i 


n 


LIBRARY 


Theological   S.e m i n  a r y  , , 


Cast 


PRINCETON,  N.  J. 

BR  375  \S8  1846 


Spencer,  J.  A.  1816-1898. 
shei,   History  of  the  Reformation 
in  England 


Booi 


s     ^. 


HISTORY 


OF    THE 


REFORMATION   IN   ENGLAND. 


HISTORY 


OF  THE 


REFORMATION  IN  ENGLAND. 


BY  REV.  J.  A.  SPENCER,  A.  M. 

AUTHOR   OF   "  THK   CHRISTIAN   INSTRUCTED  IN  THE  "WAYS   OF  THE   GOSPEL 
AND  THK   CHURCH,"  ETC.,  ETC. 


NEW- YORK: 

STANFORD    AND    SWORDS, 

No.  139,  Broadway. 

1846. 


Entered  according  to  Act  of  Congress,  in  the  year  1846,  by 

J.  A.  SPENCER, 
in  the  Clerk's  Office  of  the  Southern  District  of  New  York. 


PBINTED   BY  JOHN  R.  M'QOW:*, 
128  FULTON  STBEET. 


PREFACE. 


In  venturing  to  lay  before  the  public  a  volume  on  the 
subject  of  the  English  Reformation,  the  author  is  not 
unaware  of  the  difficulties  connected  with  it,  neither  is  he 
so  presumptuous  as  to  imagine  that  any  thing  new  can  be 
presented  by  him  on  this  deeply  interesting  portion  of 
Church  history.  He  does  not  pretend  to  any  originality, 
or  to  the  possession  of  any  peculiar  qualifications  for  the 
task  he  has  chosen.  All  that  he  claims  is  this  ;  to  have 
carefully  sought  exactness  and  precision  in  regard  to  facts 
and  circumstances  ;  to  have  consulted  every  writer  within 
his  reach  in  order  to  verify  the  statements  made  in  the 
text ;  to  have  endeavored  to  be  strictly  just  and  fair 
towards  all  parties  and  persons  ;  and  to  have  set  forth  the 
public  acts  of  the  Church  and  State  as  faithfully  as  he 
was  able,  and  as  fully  as  the  limits  of  the  volume  would 
admit. 


IV  PREFACE. 

He  has  had  one  object  ever  before  him,  viz.,  to  indued 
the  reader  to  feel  and  appreciate  the  need  and  value  of  the 
Reformation  ;  and  consequently  he  has  written  earnestly, 
and  strongly,  and  plainly,  on  the  point  of  papistical  errors 
and  abominations,  and  never  hesitated  to  call  things  by 
their  right  names,  whether  in  Protestant  or  Roman 
Catholic. 

He  will  be  pardoned,  he  trusts,  for  expressing  the  hope 
that  the  volume  will  be  found  serviceable  in  making  Pro- 
testants somewhat  better  acquainted  with  the  history  of 
the  great  Reform  in  England,  and  especially  in  training 
up  the  youth  of  the  present  day  in  the  sound  principles 
then  established.  If  half  the  pleasure  is  felt  in  reading, 
that  the  author  has  had  in  writing  on  this  fruitfiil  topic, 
he  will  deem  himself  amply  repaid. 

Ne W.York,  November  20//^,  1846, 


1* 


CONTENTS. 


Introduction* 


CHAPTER  I. 

A.  D.  1485—1534. 

Henry  VII. — prince  Arthur- — Katharine  of  Arragon — prince 
Henry — marriage — education  and  abihties — efforts  of 
Grostete,  Wickliffe  and  others — causes  at  work  leading  to 
Reformation — question  of  the  divorce — Henry's  motives — 
vexatiousness  of  the  question — pope's  dilemma — Cran- 
mer's  advice — Gardiner — how  settled — Henry  marries 
Anne  Boleyn — Cranmer  made  archbishop — papal  supre- 
macy abolished — prospects  of  the  Reformation.       -         .         33 

CHAPTER  II. 

A.  D.  1534—1539. 

The  king's  supremacy — Fisher  and  More  refuse  to  take  the 
oath — are  executed — visitation  of  the  monasteries — Crom- 
well— his  life  and  character — reasons  requiring  the  visita- 


VI  CONTENTS. 

tiou — motives  of  the  king  and  court — ^motives  of  the  Re- 
formers— results  of  the  visitation — state  of  the  convents 
— dissohition  of  the  smaller  ones — death  of  queen  Anne 
Boleyn — wickedness  of  the  act — Jane  Seymour — articles 
of  doctrine  and  practice — royal  proclamation — effect  of 
breaking  up  the  monasteries — insurrections — pilgrimage 
of  grace — new  visitation  ordered — report  of  the  visitors — 
impostures  and  deceit  in  the  religious  houses — exceptions 
— dissolution  of  the  monasteries  actually  necessary — 
shameful  perversion  of  their  wealth,  and  wasteful  wicked- 
ness of  the  king — good  flowing  from  evil.        -         -         -         54 

CHAPTER  III. 

A.  D.  1539—1547. 

State  of  things  at  this  date — popish  schemes — martyrs — 
John  Lambert — proclamation  against  marriage  of  priests 
— act  of  Six  Articles — abstract  of  them — Latimer  and 
Shaxton  resign  their  bishoprics — effect  of  the  articles — 
birth  of  Edward — death  of  the  queen — Henry's  marriage 
to  Anne  of  Cleves — disgraceful  termination  of  the  match 
— Cromwell's  fall — Romish  ascendancy — Cranmer's  bible 
— Gardiner's  scheme  to  nullify  the  English  version— new 
queen — Anne  Askew — her  martyrdom — difficulties  and 
trials  of  the  Reformers — Litany  in  English — King's  Pri- 
mer— close  of  Henry's  reign — evils  of  the  Reformation — 
encouragements  in  prospect — advances  made — Henry's 
death  and  character — reflections  on  Goo's  providence.    -         73 

CHAPTER  IV. 

A.  D.  1547—1549. 

Edward  VI. — his  high  and  noble  character — Edward  Sey- 
mour, lord  protector — his  character — spoliations  of  church 
property — evils  of  rash  zeal — images  destroyed  in  churches 


CONTENTS.  vii 

— general  visitation — necessity  of  it — First  Book  of  Homi- 
lies— Gardiner  and  Bonner  in  trouble — act  of  communion 
in  both  kinds — Six  Article  act  repealed — chantries,  chap- 
els, &c.,  given  to  royal  treasury — images  ordered  to  be 
entirely  removed — revision  of  the  liturgy — proceedings  of 
the  committee — Cranmer's  catechism — First  Book  of  king 
Edward  VI. — how  it  differs  from  the  present  Book  of 
Common  Prayer — its  value  not  to  be  denied.  -         -         -         91 

CHAPTER  V. 

A.  D.  1549—1551. 

Opposition  to  the  new  book — insurrections — ecclesiastical 
visitation — transubstantiation  under  discussion — doctrine 
of  the  Church  of  England  on  the  Eucharist — public  dispu- 
tations— Joan  Bocher — licentiousness  of  opinion  and  prac- 
tice— Bonner  deprived — Ridley  translated  to  London — 
Ridley's  visitation — ordination  offices — distinguished  fo- 
reigners— troubles  of  a  new  kind — contrast  between  En- 
glish and  continental  Reformation — Cranmer's  settled 
views  on  the  subject  of  the  ministry — forty-two  articles — 
thirty-nine  adopted — not  Calvinistic — how  to  be  inter- 
preted.       -_-----.-       107 

CHAPTER  VI. 

A.  D.  1551—1553. 

Clergy  driven  abroad  by  Six  Article  act — Hooper — scruples 
about  clerical  robes — Bucer  and  Martyr  decide  against 
him — sent  to  prison — assents — consecrated  bishop — Hoop- 
er's motives  sincere — unfortunate  result  of  this  trouble — 
revision  of  Book  of  Co^imon  Prayer — changes  introduced 
— Ridley's  sermon — Gardiner  degraded — Ponet  his  suc- 
cessor— Somerset's  fall — beheaded — Warwick's  course — 


Vlll  CONTENTS. 

passed  by  parliament,  1552 — dreadful  licentiousness  of 
opinion  and  practice — evils  of  the  Reformation — destruc- 
tion of  property  and  manuscripts — mj^sterious  dispensa- 
tion of  Providence — Edward's  sickness — death — charac- 
ter— fearful  trial  in  prospect.  .         _         .         .         -       120 

CHAPTER  VII. 

A.  D.  1553—1555. 

Lady  Jane  Grey — ^her  character — manner  in  virhich  she 
was  elevated  to  the  throne — eleven  days  queen — Mary 
mounts  tlie  throne — Jane  beheaded — promised  toleration 
— duplicity  of  the  queen — course  determuied  on — indecent 
haste  in  restoring  popish  practices — Hooper  imprisoned — 
Cranmer  sent  to  the  tower — prisons  soon  crowded  with 
Reformers  —  their  courage  and  constancy — Commendone 
papal  emissary  in  England — doings  in  parliament — Span- 
ish match  greatly  disliked — Gardiner  opposes  it — Philip's 
character — result — marriage  takes  place — convocation 
meets — its  acts — public  discussions — unfairness — popish 
taunt — Romish  bishops  appointed — Cranmer,  Ridley,  La- 
timer borne  down  by  clamor  and  abuse — re-action — res- 
pite for  a  while — Elizabeth  saved  by  Philip — Cardinal 
Pole  papal  legate — absolves  tlie  nation — queen's  sacri- 
fices— persecuting  statutes  revived — Pole's  feelings — po- 
licy resolved  upon.         - 136 

CHAPTER  VIII. 

A.  D.  1555     1558. 

Year  1555  memorable — persecution  set  on  foot — John  Ro- 
gers proto-martyr — Laurence  Saunders — bishop  Hooper 
martyred  at  Gloucester — Rowland  Taylor  burnt — his 
code  of    laws  for    the  Church — never   completed — bills 


CONTENTS.  ix 

character — papists  disappointed — Fen-ar,  Bradford,  Phil- 
pott  and  others  burnt — number  of  the  martyrs  during 
Mary's  reign — bishops  Ridley  and  Latimer  burnt  at  Ox- 
ford— their  characters — Latimer's  last  words — Cranmer 
reserved  a  while — cited  to  appear  before  the  pope — 
condemned  for  contumacy — degraded  by  Bonner  and 
Thirlby — Cranmer's  recantations — how  obtained — dupli- 
city of  the  queen  and  court — malice  overshooting  the 
mark — the  archbishop  retracts  his  recantation — scene  in 
St.  Mary's  church,  Oxford — Cranmer  burnt — Pole  made 
archbishop — his  character — persecution  unabated — effect 
of  this — universities  visited — doings  of  the  visitors — Calais 
taken — unpopularity  of  the  government — Mary's  death — 
Pole's  death — character  of  Mary. 152 

CHAPTER  IX. 

A.  D.  1558—1563. 

Elizabeth's  accession — her  great  popularity — hopes  and  ex- 
pectations raised — character  and  policy  of  the  queen — 
decidedly  in  favor  of  the  Reformation,  yet  cautious — 
wisdom  of  her  measures — contrast  between  Mary's  and 
Ehzabeth's  course — crowned  by  the  bishop  of  Carlisle — 
Romish  bishops  refuse  to  join  in  the  ceremony — acts  of 
parliament — supreme  governor — public  discussion — bi- 
shops deprived — clergy  take  the  oath — Parker  archbishop 
— consecration — Nag's  Head  fable — poverty  of  clergy — 
low  state  of  learning — Jewel's  apology — acts  of  convo- 
cation— articles  adopted — second  book  of  Homilies — Re- 
formation substantially  completed  -         -         -         -       172 

Conclusion  ----..--_       184 

Appendix  I.  ..» 192 

IL 195 

in. 196 


X  CONTENTS. 

Appendix  IV.  _.------  197 

V. 200 

VI. 2U3 

VII. 205 


INTRODUCTION. 


The  Reformation  in  England  is  one  of  the  great 
and  leading  eras  in  history.  It  deserves  careful 
examination,  or  rather  thorough  study,  on  the 
part  of  all  who  love  the  truth  :  it  claims  the  at- 
tention of  every  one  who  desires  the  prosperity 
of  the  Church  of  God,  and  the  welfare  of  the 
human  race ;  for  no  event  in  modern  times  has 
had  a  more  marked  and  wide  spread  effect  upon 
the  best  interests  of  mankind  than  this,  and  at 
no  period,  probably,  can  the  hand  of  Divine 
Providence  be  more  distinctly  seen  in  the  guid- 
ing and  overruling  care  which  the  great  Head 
of  the  Church  ever  exercises,  than  in  the  various 
and  strong  reasons  moving  to  reformation,  the 
grounds  on  which  it  was  based,  the  agents  con- 
cerned in  its  commencement  and  progress,  and 
the  steps  taken  to  bring  it  to  a  completion. 
2 


10  REFORMATION  IN  ENGLAND. 

Most  of  readers  have  often  heard,  and  probably 
read  somethmg  about  the  great  change  in  reh- 
gious  matters  which  took  place  in  England  in  the 
sixteenth  century,  and  which  is  commonly  called 
the  Reformation.  It  is  frequently  a  topic  of  con- 
versation and  discussion ;  and  not  only  the  men 
who  w^ere  active  both  for  and  against  the  Refor- 
mation, but  also  the  motives  of  their  conduct,  are 
speculated  upon  and  counted  worthy  of  praise 
or  censure.  In  various  ways  and  from  various 
sources  information  is  acquired,  and  there  is 
hardly  any  one  but  can  tell  something  about  the 
life  and  doings  of  that  bad  man  and  cruel  tyrant, 
Henry  VIII.  ;  about  that  lovely  and  excellent 
young  king,  Edward  VI. ;  the  unfortunate  Lady 
Jane  Gre}^ ;  the  blinded  and  bigotted  queen 
Mary ;  the  imperious  but  wise  and  cautious 
queen  Elizabeth ;  the  lordly  Wolsey,  the  politic 
Cromwell,  the  vain  Somerset,  the  unscrupulous 
Northumberland,  the  sagacious  Cecil ;  or  about 
the  great  and  good  men  who  died  as  martyrs  to 
the  truth  which  the  Church  of  England  holds — 
as  Cranmer,  Ridley,  Latimer,  Hooper,  Taylor, 
Philpott,  Bradford,  and  others ;  or  the  many 
persecutions  to  which  the  cause  of  our  holy  re- 
ligion was  subjected  during  those  eventful  times. 


INTRODUCTION.  11 

Something,  more  or  less,  is  known  by  all  in- 
telligent readers  on  these  points  ;  but  yet  we 
fear  that  few  see  or  think  how  deeply  they  are 
in  reality  interested  in  the  Reformation,  and 
how  necessary  it  is  that  they  be  assured  that  it 
was  absolutely  required,  and  that  it  was  con- 
ducted in  a  proper  and  lawful  manner ;  and 
still  more  we  fear  that  most  of  those  who  are 
now  enjojang  the  blessings  of  the  pure  Gospel 
are  not  fully  aware,  that  unless  the  Reformation 
in  England  can  be  defended  and  shown  to  be 
what  the  truth  actually  demanded,  their  fathers 
were  guilty  of  schism,  if  not  of  heresy,  and  they 
themselves  are  partakers  with  them  in  those  sins 
so  pointedly  condemned  in  God's  holy  Word.* 

Now,  in  our  view,  there  is  a  deficiency  in  the 
education  of  every  one,  whether  young  or  old, 
who  does  not  know  the  grounds  on  which  the 
Church  of  England  renounced  the  usurped  and 
tyrannical  dominion  of  the  pope  of  Rome  ;  trans- 
lated the  Holy  Scriptures  into  the  common  lan- 
guage, that  is,  the  language  used  and  spoken 
by  the  people  of  England ;  and  so  arranged  its 
public  services  as  that  all  could  understand 
what  was   said,    all  could  join  in  the  prayers 

*   I  Cor.  i.  10—12  ;  Gal.  v.  20  ;  2  Pet.  ii.  1  ;  &c. 


\ 


12  REFORMATION  IN  ENGLAND.      . 

and  praises  offered  to  Almighty  God,  and  that 
none  of  the  superstitions  and  absurdities  of  pre- 
vious practices  should  be  admitted  into  the  Church. 

Being  fully  convinced  of  this  fact,  and  being- 
desirous,  so  far  as  we  can,  to  supply  this  defi- 
ciency, we  have  determined  to  draw  up  a  brief 
sketch  of  the  Reformation  in  England,  in  which  it 
will  be  shown  why  it  was  necessary,  how  it  was 
conducted  and  who  were  concerned  in  it,  its 
final  accomplishment,  and  that  there  are  sound 
and  conclusive  reasons  whereby  it  is  to  be  de- 
fended against  all  papistical  attacks  whatsoever. 

Before  beginning  with  the  regular  history  of 
the  Reformation,  as  commenced  in  earnest  in 
the  time  of  Henry  VIIL,  (about  a.  d.  1530,)  it 
will  be  necessary  to  go  back  some  distance  to 
get  at  the  reasons  and  causes  which  led  to  such 
a  state  of  things  in  religion  as  that  this  change 
or  reformation  was  absolutely  demanded.  We 
shall  do  this  as  briefly  and  plainly  as  possible. 

The  Gospel  was  preached  very  early  in  Bri- 
tain ;  some  learned  writers  assert  that  St.  Paul 
himself  visited  this  island,  and  proclaimed  the 
truth  there  in  person.  It  is  not  improbable,  cer- 
tainly not  impossible,  that  he  did  so,  though  at 
the   same    time   it   cannot   be    clearly   proved.* 

*  Clemens  Romanus  says  that  St.  Paul  preached  as  far  as  "  the 


/ 


INTRODUCTION.  13 

Thus  much  however  is  certain,  that  within  a 
hundred  and  fifty  years  after  our  Lord's  Nati- 
vity, the  Church  had  been  planted  in  Britain, 
and  the  glad  tidings  of  great  joy  had  been  spread 
over  a  large  portion  of  the  island. 

Not  much  is  known  certainly  of  the  history  of 
the  British  Church  for  a  long  time  after  this. 
The  heathen  Saxons  from  the  continent,  invited 
at  first  by  the  Britons  to  assist  them  against  the 
Picts  and  Scots  in  the  north,  iiked  England  so 
well,  and  learned  to  entertain  so  great  contempt 
for  the  people,  that  they  made  an  invasion,  a.  d. 
449,  and  not  only  overturned  the  civil  govern- 
ment, and  reduced  the  country  to  complete  sub- 
jection, but  also  almost  entirely  crushed  and 
destroyed  Christianity. 

For  about  one  hundred  and  fifty  years,  the 
knowledge  of  the  truth  was  confined  to  the 
mountainous    districts,    principally   in    Wales, 


utmost  bounds  of  the  west."  St.  Jerome,  that  he  labored  unto 
"  the  western  "  parts.  Theodoret,  that  he  brought  salvation  to  the 
"  Isles  of  the  Ocean  ;"  and  that  after  his  release  from  Rome  he 
travelled  into  Spain  and  other  nations.  Writers  of  the  sixth  and 
seventh  centuries  expressly  mention  his  mission  to  the  island  Tho 
late  Bishop  .Burgess,  after  a  careful  examination  of  the  buLject,  was 
fully  convinced  that  St.  Paul  indisputably  visited  Britain. — Bates's 
"  College  Lectures  on  Ecclesiastical  History, ^^  p.  179. 


14  REFORMATION  IN  ENGLAND. 

where  the  remnant  of  the  Britons  and  the  Welsh 
still  maintained  their  liberty. 

Gregory  I.  was  consecrated  bishop  of  Rome, 
A.  D.  590.  Having  on  a  certain  occasion,  before 
he  assumed  the  office  of  a  bishop,  accidentally 
beheld  some  young  persons  brought  from  Eng- 
land and  offered  for  sale  as  slaves,  he  was  struck 
with  their  personal  beauty,  so  different  from 
that  of  the  Italians,  and  determined  to  attempt 
the  conversion  of  their  fellow-countrymen.* 

By  his  elevation  to  the  bishopric  he  was  pre- 
vented from  undertaking  the  mission  in  person ; 

*  Gregory,  walking  one  day  in  the  forum  or  market-place,  saw 
some  very  handsome  youths  exposed  to  sale.  Inquiring  of  what 
country  they  were,  he  was  informed  they  were  of  the  island  of 
Britain.  "  Are  the  inhabitants  of  that  island  Christians  or  pagans?  " 
"  They  are  pagans,"  was  the  reply.  "  Alas ! "  said  he,  deeply 
sighing,  "  that  the  Prince  of  Darkness  should  possess  countenances 
so  luminous,  and  that  so  fair  a  front  should  carry  minds  so  destitute 
of  eternal  grace.  What  is  the  name  of  the  nation  ?  "  "  Angli,"  it 
was  said.  "  In  truth  they  have  angelic  countenances,  and  it  is  a 
pity  they  should  not  be  co-heirs  with  angels  in  heaven.  What  is 
the  province  from  whence  they  come  ?  "  "  Deira,"  that  is,  North- 
umberland, he  was  told.  "  It  is  well,"  said  he  ;  "  De  ira,"  snatched 
from  the  wrath  of  God  and  called  to  the  mercy  of  Christ.  "  What 
is  the  name  of  their  king?  "  "  Ella,"  was  the  answer.  In  allusion 
to  the  name,  he  said  :  "  Alleluia  should  be  sung  to  God  in  those 
regions."  This  was  before  he  became  bishop  of  Rome,  which  event 
occurring  shortly  after,  prevented  his  going  on  a  mission  himself  to 
far  distant  England. 


INTRODUCTION.  16 

but  on  that  account  he  did  not  abandon  his  be- 
nevolent project.  He  prevailed  upon  Augustin, 
a  zealous  monk,  to  take  with  him  forty  other 
monks,  and  go  to  England  for  the  purpose  of 
preaching  the  Gospel  to  the  ignorant  and  un- 
godly heathen.  They  obtained  interpreters  in 
France,  landed  in  the  isle  of  Thanet,  in  Kent, 
A.  D.  596,  were  favorably  received  by  Ethel- 
bert,  king  of  Kent,  and  were  permitted  to  settle 
in  Canterbury,  and  enter  upon  their  labor  of 
love.  Their  success  was  very  great,  and  Austin 
was  finally  raised  to  the  dignity  of  archbishop 
of  England. 

Before  his  death,  a.  d.  605,  he  endeavored 
to  unite  the  Churches  of  the  Welsh  and  British 
with  those  formed  among  the  Saxons  ;  but  as  he 
demanded  concessions  which  they  were  unwil- 
ling to  grant,*  and  acted  in  a  haughty  and  over- 
bearing manner,  the  plan  failed  entirely.  A 
second  effort,  not  long  after,  met  with  the  same 

*  The  concessions  demanded  were  these  :  that  they  should  keep 
Easter  at  the  Roman  time,  should  use  the  forms  of  that  Church  in 
baptizing,  and  should  preach  to  the  Saxons.  As  they  had  derived 
their  customs  from  the  eastern  Christians  through  Gallic  teachers, 
and  as  they  were  embittered  against  the  Saxon  invaders,  they 
refused  to  agree  to  Austin's  proposed  basis  of  union.  Their  principal 
objection  however  seems  to  have  been  to  the  archbishop's  imperious 
manner. 


36  REFORMATION  IN  ENGLAND. 

sure,  and  had  an  overflowing  treasury  at  his 
command,  he  soon  fell  into  the  snares  of  artful 
courtiers  and  ambitious  statesmen ;  and  the  vio- 
lent passions  which  he  naturally  possessed,  ere 
long  began  to  display  themselves,  and  kept  on 
increasing  with  age  and  indulgence,  till  they 
ended  in  outrageous  and  frequent  acts  of  tyranny. 
Henry's  prime  minister,  Wolsey,  was  an  able, 
but  ambitious  man,  and  made  it  a  rule  to  relieve 
the  king  of  all  the  troubles  of  government,  and 
facilitate  in  every  way  possible,  his  devotion  to 
pleasure.  But  Henry  was  of  too  active  a  mind, 
and  possessed  of  too  much  natural  good  sense, 
to  grovel  in  pleasure  all  his  days.  Being,  by 
education,  zealously  attached  to  Romish  dogmas, 
and  also  v/ell  read  in  school  divinity,  he  looked 
with  indignant  aversion  upon  the  daring  conti- 
nental Reformer,  Luther,  and  entered  the  lists 
against  him  as  a  champion  for  the  truth.  Luther 
attacked  with  all  that  severity  and  roughness 
which  was  characteristic  of  him,  the  works  of 
Thomas  Aquinas,  called  after  the  fashion  of  those 
days,  "  the  Angelic  Doctor."  Henry,  who 
greatly  admired  Aquinas's  works,  wrote  in  reply 
a  Latin  treatise  upon  the  "  Seven  Sacraments:" 
this  was  in  1521.  The  pope,  well  pleased  to 
have  so  royal  a  champion,  gave  Henry  the  much 


GROSTETE  AND  WICKLIFFE.  37 

coveted  title,  of  "  Defender  of  the  Faith;"  a 
title,  by  the  way,  to  which  he  and  his  successors 
on  the  throne  have  tenaciously  adhered. 

The  king  was  also  a  munificent  patron  of 
learning  and  learned  men ;  though  it  must  be 
confessed,  that  cardinal  Wolsey  surpassed  him 
in  this  respect,  so  much  so,  that  his  memory 
deserves  to  be  cherished  for  this  alone,  if  nothing 
else.  He  founded  colleges,  and  employed  his 
princely  revenue  in  building  up  institutions  of 
learning,  which,  it  ought  to  be  noted,  at  this 
time  began  to  revive  and  flourish,  and  was  one 
of  the  important  means  of  furthering  the  cause  of 
the  Reformation. 

Before  the  period  of  which  we  are  now  writing, 
considerable  had  been  done  towards  preparing 
the  minds  and  hearts  of  the  people  for  the  great 
change  in  religious  matters,  which  was  about  to 
take  place.  So  early  as  a.  d.  1235,  Robert 
Grostete,  bishop  of  Lincoln,  openly  opposed  po- 
pish corruptions  and  extortions  :  he  hindered  pope 
Innocent  III.  from  nominating  an  infant  nephew 
to  a  canonry  in  his  cathedral :  he  enforced  disci- 
pline, reformed  .abuses,  and  denounced  papal 
encroachments.  In  1352,  a  remarkable  work 
appeared,  entitled  the  •'  Complaint  of  the  Plough- 
man."    The  unknown  author  attacked  with  great 


18  REFORMATION  IN  ENGLAND. 

after  age,  as  being  the  truth  of  God  in  its  purity 
and  integrity.  We  must  pay  close  attention  to 
these  things  if  we  would  understand  how  error, 
false  doctrine,  corruption  in  life  and  manners, 
and  superstition,  were  gradually  introduced  and 
made  their  way,  until  the  whole  Church  w^as 
tainted  with  these  leprous  spots,  and  reforma- 
tion, that  is,  restoring  things  to  their  primitive 
purity  and  soundness,  was  loudly  demanded  on 
all  hands. 

Now,  we  know  that  even  in  the  days  of  the 
Apostles  error  had  crept  in,  and  heresies  had 
sprung  up  ;  but  they  were  repressed  almost  im- 
mediately by  the  watchfulness  of  those  set  in 
authority  in  the  Church,  and  they  made  no  pro- 
gress worth  speaking  of,  among  the  early  Chris- 
tians. These  were  men  of  undoubted  purity 
and  consistent  piety  ;  led  by  the  Spirit  of  God, 
they  had  become  members  of  His  Church  from 
conviction  alone,  at  a  time  when  terrible  perse- 
cution and  trials  of  the  hardest  kind  to  bear, 
awaited  the  follower  of  the  cross  at  every  step. 
Hence,  for  man}^,  many  long  years,  the  Church 
was  pure  and  sound ;  the  Gospel  was  read  and 
studied,  and  made  the  rule  of  action  ;  persecu- 
tion from  without  knit  closer  and  closer  the 
bands  of  brotherly  love  and  union  in  the  cause 


INTRODUCTION.  19 

of  their  common  Master  ;  occasional  differences 
and  disputes  never  marred  the  concord  and 
agreement  of  the  whole  Church  in  those  things 
which  the  Saviour  and  His  Apostles  had  settled 
and  appointed ;  and  we  cannot  but  be  struck 
with  the  numerous  instances  of  strong  fraternal 
sympathy  and  affection  to  which  the  days  of 
trial  gave  occasion,  and  brought  into  active  ex- 
ercise. 

But,  by-and-by,  a  change  came  over  the  face 
of  things  ;  persecution  ceased  ;  the  civil  power, 
pagan  intolerance,  Jewish  malignit}^,  all  com- 
bined, could  not  overthrow  the  Church,  or  crush 
the  religion  of  the  cross  ;  and  so  after  a  time, 
some  three  hundred  years  after  our  Lord's 
death,  the  flames  of  persecution  burned  out,  the 
stormy  trials  ceased,  and  the  Church  became 
estabhshed  as  the  religion  of  the  civilized  world. 
It  had  rest  from  its  enemies,  and  they  who  were 
called  Christians  had  no  longer  need  to  hide 
themselves  or  be  ashamed  or  afraid  to  confess 
Christ  before  men.  Christianity  became  the  re- 
ligion of  the  state  ;  the  pagan  temples  were  con- 
verted into  Christian  churches  ;  the  wealth  and 
resources  of  a  false  system  by  degrees  flowed 
into  the  treasury  of  those  who  preached  Jesus 
and  Him   crucified,    and   great  good    was  the 


20  *       REFORMATION  IN  ENGLAND. 

result  for  a  time.  But,  after  a  while,  worldly 
prosperity  begat  indolence  and  indifference  ;  as 
power  increased  and  dignity  was  added,  the 
love  of  power  and  dignity  grew  by  what  it  fed 
upon,  and  stretched  itself  farther  and  farther, 
and  grasped  at  higher  and  higher  things  ;  ease 
of  position  led  to  speculation  on  subjects  of  no 
real  profit,  and  to  discussion  of  hard  and  deep 
and  perplexing  questions ;  slight  differences  of 
opinion  by  degrees  grew  into  irreconcileable 
variances ;  rash  and  foolish  expressions  were 
magnified  on  the  one  hand  into  heretical  depar- 
ture from  the  truth,  and  on  the  other  defended 
and  insisted  upon  with  pertinacity  and  head- 
strong obstinacy.  Ere  long,  greater  pomp  and 
outward  show  were  introduced  into  the  public 
worship  of  the  Church  ;  the  houses  of  God  were 
like  vast  and  imposing  temples  ;  new  ceremonies 
were  brought  in  ;  new  ideas  broached  on  several 
points ;  and  things  in  themselves  innocent  and 
useful,  were  perverted  to  purposes  injurious  to 
the  people's  spiritual  health. 

The  relics  of  great  and  good  men,  which 
every  one  will  confess  it  is  a  dictate  of  human 
nature  to  treat  with  respect  and  care,  im- 
perceptibly came  to  be  regarded  with  reve- 
rence and    awe  ;    churches  were  erected  over 


INTRODUCTION.  21 

the  spot  where  martyrs  suffered,  and  the  birth- 
days of  their  martyrdom  were  observed ;  their 
bones,  or  whatever  remained  of  them,  were  col- 
lected and  carefully  preserved,  not  for  the  pur- 
poses of  worship  or  any  thing  so  abominable, 
but  from  the  natural  feeling  of  affection  which 
we  all  have  for  what  has  belonged  to  a  near 
and  dear  friend.  By-and-by,  however,  super- 
stitious notions  found  place  among  Christians 
respecting  the  relics  of  holy  and  good  men. 
They  supposed  some  virtue  or  efficacy  to  belong 
to  or  reside  in  them ;  some  weak  and  ill  in- 
formed persons  imagined  themselves  to  have 
derived  benefit  from  them  ;  and  in  the  course  of 
time  it  was  confidently  said  and  taught  that 
relics  of  all  sorts  could  w^ork  miracles  ! 

The  elements  of  bread  and  wine  in  the  Lord's 
Supper,  which  so  aptly  and  forcibly  represent 
the  sacrifice  of  Christ  on  the  cross,  after  a 
time  were  spoken  of  in  exalted  terms,  and  with 
awful  mysteriousness.  Men  of  fervid  imagina- 
tions and  glowing  eloquence,  dwelt  upon  the 
unspeakable  value  and  benefits  of  the  one  great 
sacrifice,  and  the  preciousness  of  the  Body  and 
Blood  of  Christ,  and  while  they  urged  these 
that  the}^  might  magnify  the  sacrament  and 
draw  the  people  to  the  Lord's  table,  used  Ian- 


22  REFORMATION  IN  ENGLAND. 

guage  which  seemed  to  impty — which  perhaps 
in  some  instances  did  imply — that  the  elements 
of  bread  and  wine  were  no  longer  material 
substance,  but  changed  by  a  miracle  into  the 
actual,  literal  flesh  and  blood  of  the  glorified 
Redeemer  !  so  that  at  last  the  monstrous  dogma 
of  transubstantiation  became  the  prevailing  doc- 
trine in  the  Church. 

Prayers  commemorating  the  pious  dead,  and 
supplicating  increased  felicity  for  them,  w^ere 
early  used  in  the  Church ;  but,  by  a  strange 
perversion,  the  notion  was  started  that  men 
might  pray  for  the  souls  of  any  or  all  the  de- 
parted, bad  as  well  as  good,  and  that  their 
prayers  might  avail  to  help  the  dead,  who  it 
was  thought  were  undergoing  a  purging  process, 
by  which  at  last  they  might  be  fitted  to  join  the 
holy  dead  in  bliss  and  peace.  This  pernicious 
conceit  of  purgatory  arose  out  of  vain  specula- 
tions. Certain  men  of  philosophical  turn  of  mind 
— especially  Origen  and  Augustine — misunder- 
standing some  passages  of  Scripture,  thought 
that  there  was  to  be  a  purging  fire  through 
which  all — not  even  the  Apostles  excepted — 
should  pass,  sometime  between  death  and  the 
resurrection.  By-and-by,  it  was  asserted  that 
this  was    the  fact,    and  prayers  were  ordered 


INTRODUCTION.  23 

for  souls  in  purgatory :  the  idea  was  pleasing 
enough  to  those  who  lived  in  sin  as  long  as  they 
could,  and  hoped  in  some  way  or  other  to  get 
to  heaven  at  last ;  and  so  from  speculation  and 
doubt,  and  mixing  it  up  with  prayers  for  the 
dead,  as  first  used,  this  notion  became  the  doc- 
trine to  which  all  subscribed. 

Pictures  and  images,  at  first  introduced  with 
no  bad  but  rather  good  intention,  soon  produced 
great  mischief,  and  after  a  while  they  were 
wondered  at,  looked  at  with  awe,  and  finally 
worshipped.  The  Saints,  too,  w^hom  they  were 
meant  to  represent,  were  called  upon  and  prayed 
to,  and  their  intercession  besought  in  most  ex- 
travagant and  wicked  terms. 

The  clergy,  as  these  corruptions  spread,  be- 
came more  and  more  powerful,  and  at  last 
despotic ;  they  grew  rich  and  monopolized  all 
the  learning  and  knowledge ;  the  people  grew 
more  and  more  ignorant  and  superstitious  ;  the 
Holy  Scriptures  they  knew  not  how  to  read, 
even  if  copies  could  have  been  easily  obtained ; 
and  instead  of  the  pure  Word  of  God  read  in 
their  ears,  as  is  our  blessed  privilege,  they  were 
deluded  and  befooled  with  ridiculous  legends 
and  stories,  worse  than  nursery  tales  and  things 
of  that  sort.     Pilgrimages  and  penances  were 


24  REFORMATION  IN  ENGLAND. 

imposed  upon  them ;  they  were  taught  that 
money  could  purchase  forgiveness  of  sin;  that 
the  holy  sacrament  of  the  Lord's  Supper,  if 
only  partaken  of,  would  certainly  help  onward 
towards  heaven ;  that  prayers  to  the  Virgin 
would  be  heard  and  answered  ;  that  repeating 
the  words  alone  of  prayers  had  efficacy ;  that 
almsgiving  and  good  works  could  buy  merit  in 
the  sight  of  God  ;  that  confession  to  a  priest  and 
absolution  were  essential;  that  private  or  soli- 
tary masses  by  the  priest  were  effectual  for  the 
living  and  the  dead ;  and  many  other  things  of 
the  kind. 

Last  of  all,  though  by  no  means  least  in  its 
effects  upon  the  world  and  the  Church,  the 
pope's  supremacy  grew  to  be  an  article  of  faith. 
He  was  not  only  thought  to  be  the  head  of  the 
Church,  the  centre  of  its  unity,  and  Christ's  vice- 
gerent on  earth,  but  he  was  called  the  lord  over 
kings  and  all  civil  rulers.  He  was  infallible, 
i.  e.  could  not  say  or  do  wrong,  and  whatever 
he  said  was  right  and  true,  as  if  revealed  from 
heaven.  He  claimed  subservience  from  all, 
every  where.  He  demanded  tribute  from  every 
nation  and  people,  and  pretended  to  unite  in 
Inmself  the  headship  of  the  Church  and  abGoIule 
rule  over  it,  with  the  government  of  a  province 


INTRODUCTION.  S5 

in  Italy.  The  bishops  were  every  where  de- 
pressed, their  rightful  authority  interfered  with, 
and  generally  taken  away;  various  societies 
were  instituted,  who  acted  as  servants  and  sol- 
diers of  the  pope,  and  proved  themselves  useful 
emissaries  throughout  the  world  for  upholding 
the  supremacy  and  infalhbility  of  the  bishop  of 
Rome,  and  for  worrying,  vexing,  and  spying 
out  the  doings  of  kings  and  princes,  as  well  as 
of  the  bishops  and  clergy,  engaged  in  the  duties 
of  their  calling  at  home. 

Our  readers  must  observe  that  these  great 
and  sore  evils  came  upon  the  Church  by  de- 
grees. They  did  not  grow  up  in  a  night :  they 
did  not  all  spring  up  at  once  ;  neither  were  they 
all  caused  by  corrupt  motives  or  a  designed 
deception  on  the  part  of  the  clergy  and  others. 
They  were  slow  in  their  growth  ;  it  took  years 
and  centuries  ere  they  attained  full  vigor  or 
were  carried  out  to  their  final  developments. 
Other  causes,  too,  were  at  work,  which  helped 
on  the  progress  of  corruption  in  faith  and  cor- 
responding corruption  in  life  and  manners.  The 
civil  commotions  and  broils  consequent  upon  the 
dissolution  of  the  Roman  empire,  the  violent  and 
savage  inroads  of  the  northern  hordes  who  swept 
over  the  plains  of  the  south  with  the  speed  of 


» ' 


26  REFORMATION  IN  ENGLAND. 

the  whirlwind,  the  continual  and  bloody  warfare 
which  century  after  century  was  waged  between 
petty  princes  and  states,  between  kings  and 
vassals,  and  between  the  roving  freebooter  and 
the  recognized  government,  all  had  their  effect — 
and  a  most  injurious  effect — upon  the  truth  and 
integrity  of  those  who  were  set  to  preach  the 
Gospel.  Nor  need  we  wonder  that  ignorance 
the  most  deplorable,  licentiousness  of  the  most 
horrible  kind,  and  lawless  disregard  of  the  purity 
and  excellence  of  the  Gospel,  overspread  the 
world  and  brought  upon  that  period  the  expres- 
sive name  of  the  "  Dark  Ages."  These  things 
must  not  be  forgotten  in  looking  back  upon  the 
past  and  in  endeavoring  to  judge  rightly  of  those 
fearful  times.  We  must  not  lose  sight  of  the  fact, 
that  when  the  people  were  grievously  oppressed 
and  ground  into  the  very  dust  by  tyrants  and 
their  minions,  the  Church  was  all  that  stood  be- 
tween them  and  their  oppressors,  and  the  Church 
gave  them  liberty  and  privileges,  and  opened 
wide  for  them  an  asylum  which  no  where  else 
could  be  had.  Nor  again,  if  we  would  rightly 
understand  these  things,  must  we  be  unmindful 
of  the  many  and  severe  trials  to  which  the  clergy 
were  subjected  in  such  a  state  of  society,  and  the 
manifold  temptations  on  every  side  to  abuse  that 


INTRODUCTION.  27 

power  which  rightly  belongs  to  them,  and  to  grasp 
at  wealth  and  influence  when  so  easy  of  acquisition. 
We  say  not  these  things  to  excuse  the  guilt 
and  wickedness  of  those  who  made  gain  of  re- 
ligion, and  had  corrupted  it  to  a  fearful  degree  ; 
by  no  means ;  we  can  use  no  language  too  strong 
in  condemnation  of  the  abominable  errors  and 
corruptions  every  where  prevalent  before  the 
Reformation  ;  we  can  employ  no  terms  too  forci- 
ble to  express  our  horror  of  the  deep  degradation 
into  which  the  truth  had  sunk ;  but  at  the  same 
time  we  wish  to  do  justice,  and  to  avoid  the 
wholesale  mode  of  condemnation  which  looks 
neither  at  the  circumstances  nor  the  occasion,  nor 
the  men,  nor  their  privileges  or  lack  of  privileges. 
We  would  not  have  our  readers  think  that  amid 
the  great  and  thick  darkness  of  those  fearful 
ages,  there  were  no  gleams  of  light,  and  no  in- 
stances of  deep  and  fervent  piety  and  devotion 
acceptable  to  God  :  it  were  grievous  wTong  done 
to  our  forefathers  to  assert  such  a  thing.  We 
would  not  have  them  suppose  that  all  was  mid- 
night gloom  and  impenetrable  blackness,  and 
that  the  cheering  beams  of  the  Sun  of  Righteous- 
ness were  never  seen  or  felt:  there  is  evidence 
to  the  contrary,  and  there  is  good  ground  for  the 
belief  that  God  had  reserved  to  himself  many 


28  REFORMATION  IN  ENGLAND. 

thousands  who  had  not  bowed  the  knee  to  Baal. 
We  would  not  that  our  readers  should  be  so  vain 
and  conceited  as  to  count — as  is  sometimes  done 
— the  men  of  those  days,  fools  or  idiots,  with  no 
learning,  no  powers  of  mind,  no  acuteness  of 
intellect,  no  moral  perceptions : — this  would  be 
foohshly  extravagant  and  unjust,  since  it  requires 
but  little  study  and  examination  of  the  Middle 
Ages  to  see  how  absurd  it  is  to  bring  such  charges 
against  all  who  lived  before  the  Reformation. 
We  trust  that  none  of  us  are  so  unjust  and  un- 
generous ;  and  while  we  abate  not  our  horror  and 
aversion  towards  the  abominable  corruptions  of 
the  truth,  and  the  deep  depravity  of  the  world 
sunk  in  ignorance  and  sin,  we  may  charitably 
hope  and  believe  that  the  Saviour  shone  into  the 
hearts  of  many  a  one  in  those  trying  times,  and 
will  have  from  among  them  many  sons  unto  glory 
in  the  last  great  day  of  account. 

We  have  said  that  these  corruptions  in  doctrine 
and  manners  were  the  growth  of  centuries ;  and 
we  call  especial  attention  to  this  fact,  because  of 
its  affording  so  conclusive  arguments  against  the 
novelties  and  innovations  of  popery,  and  so  entire 
a  justification  of  the  course  pursued  by  the  En- 
glish Reformers,  who,  while  they  rejected  what 
was  new,  held  fast  to  the  ancient  truths  taught 


INTRODUCTION.  29 

and  established  by  the  Apostles.  A  brief  ex- 
amination of  only  a  few  points  will  fully  establish 
the  truth  of  our  assertion.  No  doubt  the  early 
Church,  from  the  frequency  of  martyrdom,  es- 
teemed the  rehcs  of  holy  men,  and  preserved 
them  with  great  care ;  but  any  thing  hke  worship 
of  them  or  expectation  of  miraculous  \'irtues  from 
them,  was  so  far  from  being  entertained  in  the 
early  Church  or  thought  of,  that  when  the  heathen 
insinuated  a  charge  of  this  kind,  it  was  indignantly 
repelled,*   and  it  was  not  till  the   seventh   and 

*  The  "  Martyrdom  of  Polycarp,"  a  most  valuable  and  interesting 
document,  gives  us  a  case  in  point.  When  this  holy  man  suffered 
at  the  stake,  (a.  d.  167,)  many  of  his  friends  wished  to  preserve 
some  relic  of  him,  as  a  memento  of  his  greatness  and  goodness- 
But  it  was  not  allowed,  a  certain  Jew  malignantly  suggesting  that 
if  they  were  permitted  to  do  thus,  they  might  forsake  the  crucified 
Lord  and  Saviour,  and  worship  Polycarp  instead.  Now,  how  did 
the  Church  of  Smyrna  answer  this  wicked  charge  ?  did  they  admit 
it,  or  trj'  as  the  Romanists  do,  to  join  the  veneration  and  invocation 
of  Polycarp  with  the  worship  due  to  the  Lord  God  ?  No,  their 
language  is  worthy  o""  especial  note: — "  It  is  impossible  for  us, 
either  ever  to  forsake  Christ,  who  suffered  for  the  salvat'on  of  all 
such  as  shall  be  saved  throughout  the  whole  world  (the  righteous 
for  the  ungodly)  or  to  worship  any  other.  But  for  the  martyrs,  we 
worthily  love  them,  as  the  disciples  and  imitators  of  our  Lord,  on 
account  of  their  exceeding  great  love  toward  their  Master  and 
King ;  of  whom  may  we  also  be  made  companions  and  fellow- 
disciples."  To  the  same  effect  are  the  sentiments  of  St.  Augustine 
(a.  d.  390,)  "  Let  us  not  count  the  adoration  of  dead  men  a  reli- 
gious act  5  because,  if  they  lived  piously,  they  are  not  so  though 


30  REFORMATION  IN  ENGLAND. 

following  centuries  that  they  were  so  unduly  and 
wickedly  esteemed. 

Transubstantiation  (i.  e.  the  change  of  the 
bread  and  wine  into  the  body,  blood,  soul  and 
divinity  of  the  glorified  Saviour,  so  that  bread 
and  wine  no  longer  remains,  but  only  the  literal 
flesh  and  blood  of  the  Saviour,)  though  taught  in 
part  as  early  as  the  second  council  of  Nice,  a.  d. 
787,  and  carried  still  farther  by  Paschasius  Rad- 
bert,  831,  was  not  fully  established  as  an  article 
of  faith  till  the  Lateran  Council,   under  Innocent 

III.,  A.  D.   1215.* 

Purgatory  was  at  first  a  matter  of  mere  specu- 
lation, on  the  part  of  Origen  in  the  third  century, 
and  of  doubt  by   St.  Austin  and  others  in   the 

of  as  if  they  desired  such  honors :  but  they  wish  us  to  adore  Him, 
by  whose  ilhimination  they  rejoice  that  we  are  m^de  partakers  of 
His  merits.  They  are  therefore  to  be  honored  for  their  example's 
sake,  not  worshipped  as  a  matter  of  rehgion." — De  Vera  Religione, 
c.  55. 

*  In  the  year  787  the  second  Council  of  Nice  began  with  a  rash 
determination  that  the  sacred  symbols  are  not  figures  or  images  at 
all,  but  the  very  body  and  blood.  About  831,  Paschasius  Radbertus 
carried  it  further,  even  to  transubstantiation,  or  somewhat  very 
like  it.  The  name  of  transubstantiation  is  supposed  to  have  come 
in  about  a.  d.  1100,  first  mentioned  by  Hildebertus  Cenomanensis 
of  that  time.  In  the  year  1215  the  doctrine  was  made  an  article 
of  faith  by  the  Lateran  Council,  under  Innocent  III. — Dr.  Water- 
land,  Works,  vol.  vii.  p.  182. 


M. 

'^W' 


INTRODUCTION.  31 

fourth  and  fifth  centuries.  The  pope  and  council 
of  Florence,  a.  d.  1439,  settled  the  notions  of 
purgatory  as  now  held  in  the  Romish  Church, 
and  made  it  a  part  of  the  faith  to  be  believed  in 
its  present  corrupting,  vile  and  anti-scriptural 
form. 

Pictures  and  images  were  expressly  forbidden 
by  the  early  Church ;  they  were  introduced,  as 
helps  to  devotion,  in  the  fourth  century,  and  the 
worship  of  them  began  about  a.  d.  092 ;  the 
second  council  of  Nice,  a.  d.  787,  sanctioned 
them,  though  nearly  every  where  in  the  w^est 
they  were  long  opposed.  At  the  same  period, 
and  probably  connected  with  these,  came  in  the 
invocation  of  saints  and  mart3'rs,  and  the  worship 
of  the  Virgin  Mary. 

The  supremacy  of  the  pope  was  the  effect  of 
circumstances,  partly,  and  in  a  great  measure 
the  result  of  ambition.  The  bishop  of  Rome,  of 
course,  in  consequence  of  the  importance  of  the 
imperial  city,  was  a  person  of  great  influence 
and  weight — his  opinion  was  consulted — his  ad- 
vice asked — and  when  the  seat  of  empire  was 
transferred  to  Constantinople,  he  became  still 
more  important,  being  less  under  the  restraint  of 
the  civil  power,  and  his  influence  gradually  in- 
creased more  and  more  :  finallv,  ambitious  men 


32  REFORMATION  IN  ENGLAND. 

from  time  to  time  being  raised  to  the  papacy, 
wished,  and  spent  all  their  efforts,  to  extend  its 
power  and  make  it  supreme  over  all  in  Church 
and  State.  This  result  was  accomphshed  in  the 
eleventh  and  tAvelfth  centuries. 

With  this  brief  introductory  view  of  the  causes 
which  led  to  the  demand  throughout  the  Church 
for  reformation,  and  with  the  hope  that  our  rea- 
ders appreciate  in  some  degree  at  least  the  justice 
and  necessity  of  this  demand,  we  invite  their 
attention  to  the  history  of  the  Reformation  in 
England,  as  actually  entered  upon  in  the  time  of 
Henry  VIII. 


CHAPTER  I. 


A.  D.  1485—1534. 

Henry  VII. — Prince  Arthur — Katharine  of  Arragon — Prince  Henry 
— marriage — education  and  abilities — efforts  of  Grostete,  Wickliffe 
and  others — causes  at  work  leading  to  reformation — questionof 
the  divorce — Henry's  motives — vexatiousness  of  the  question — 
pope's  dilemma — Cranmer's  advice — Gardiner — how  settled — 
Henry  marries  Anne  Boleyn — Cranmer  made  Archbishop — 
papal  supremacy  abohshed— prospects  of  the  Reformation. 

Henry  VIL,  the  first  of  the  Tudor  race  of  kings, 
came  to  the  throne  a.  d.  1485,  on  the  death  of 
Richard  III.  in  battle,  and  at  the  close  of  the 
disastrous  and  bloody  war  between  the  houses 
of  York  and  Lancaster,  known  as  the  "  war  of 
the  Roses."  He  was  a  cautious,  politic  and 
avaricious  prince,  and  succeeded  both  in  estab- 
lishing his  government  on  a  firm  foundation,  and 
in  amassing  great  wealth,  though  not  always  by 
3 


34  REFORMATION  IN  ENGLAND. 

justifiable  means.  Prince  Arthur,  the  heir  to  the 
throne,  was  married  to  Katharine  of  An^agon, 
daughter  of  Ferdinand  and  Isabella,  on  the  14th 
of  November,  1501.  He  was  at  that  time  sixteen 
years  old  ;  his  bride  was  a  little  older.  On  the 
16th  of  the  following  April,  Arthur  died,  an 
event  which  deranged  all  Henry's  plans  and  had 
a  marked  effect — though  wholly  unexpected  at 
the  time — upon  the  cause  of  reform. 

It  was  quite  contrary  to  the  king's  notion  of 
things,  to  give  up  the  immense  dowry  which 
Katharine  brought  with  her  to  England,  now 
that  she  had  become  a  widow ;  so  he  cast  about 
how  he  might  retain  this  vast  wealth  in  his 
family.  The  pope,  it  will  be  recollected,  was 
supreme  at  this  time  ;  so  his  aid  was  sought  to 
allow  prince  Henry  to  be  betrothed  to  his  bro- 
ther's widow,  and  when  he  came  of  sufficient 
age,  to  marry  her.  Accordingly  this  was  done; 
and  notwithstanding  archbishop  Warham  had 
declared  against  the  marriage  as  contrary  to 
God's  law,  and  Henry  himself,  when  in  his 
fourteenth  year,  protested  against  this  connection 
— and  his  father  on  his  death-bed  warned  him 
against  the  union  with  Katharine,  still  he,  within 
six  weeks  of  his  accession  to  the  throne,  made 
her  his  bride. 


henry's  early  years.  35 

For  this  marriage,  so  plainly  in  opposition  to 
the  Christian  law  on  this  subject,  as  understood 
by  the  Church  of  England,*  a  dispensation  or 
permission  had  to  be  obtained  from  the  pope, 
who,  in  giving  it,  craftily  thought  he  would 
obtain  a  hold  on  England  which  could  not  pos- 
sibly be  shaken  off,  since  on  his  dispensation 
depended  entirely  the  legitimacy  of  the  children 
of  Henry  and  Katharine.  We  shall  see,  by-and- 
by,  how  this  very  circumstance  aided  in  the  ruin 
of  papal  power  and  influence. 

Henry  VIII.  was  born  a.  d.  1495.  He  was 
very  carefully  educated,  with  reference  to  the 
taking  orders  in  the  Church,  and  manifested  in 
early  life  superior  abilities ;  he  succeeded  his 
father  on  the  throne  in  1509,  much  to  the  satis- 
faction of  the  people,  who  had  become  weary  of 
the  exactions  of  Henry  Seventh's  unscrupulous 
ministers,  and  promised  themselves  greater  liberty 
under  a  youthful  and  generous  king.  As  he  was 
young  and  inexperienced,  fond  of  ease  and  plea- 


*  We  say,  "  as  understood  by  the  Church  of  England,"  which 
expressly  forbids  a  marriage  with  a  brother's  widow  or  husband's 
brother,  since  in  the  Protestant  Episcopal  Church  in  the  Un'ted 
States,  there  is  no  law  prohibiting  such  marriages.  Indeed  the 
laws  on  this  subject  in  our  country  are  of  the  loosest  possible  de- 
scription. 


36  REFORMATION  IN  ENGLAND. 

sure,  and  had  an  overflowing  treasury  at  his 
command,  he  soon  fell  into  the  snares  of  artful 
courtiers  and  ambitious  statesmen ;  and  the  vio- 
lent passions  which  he  naturally  possessed,  ere 
long  began  to  display  themselves,  and  kept  on 
increasing  with  age  and  indulgence,  till  they 
ended  in  outrageous  and  frequent  acts  of  tyranny. 
Henry's  prime  minister,  Wolsey,  was  an  able, 
but  ambitious  man,  and  made  it  a  rule  to  relieve 
the  king  of  all  the  troubles  of  government,  and 
facilitate  in  every  w^ay  possible,  his  devotion  to 
pleasure.  But  Henry  was  of  too  active  a  mind, 
and  possessed  of  too  much  natural  good  sense, 
to  grovel  in  pleasure  all  his  days.  Being,  by 
education,  zealously  attached  to  Romish  dogmas, 
and  also  well  read  in  school  divinity,  he  looked 
with  indignant  aversion  upon  the  daring  conti- 
nental Reformer,  Luther,  and  entered  the  lists 
against  him  as  a  champion  for  the  truth.  Luther 
attacked  with  all  that  severity  and  roughness 
which  was  characteristic  of  him,  the  w^orks  of 
Thomas  Aquinas,  called  after  the  fashion  of  those 
days,  "  the  Angelic  Doctor."  Henry,  who 
greatly  admired  Aquinas's  works,  wrote  in  reply 
a  Latin  treatise  upon  the  "  Seven  Sacraments:" 
this  was  in  1521.  The  pope,  well  pleased  to 
have  so  royal  a  champion,  gave  Henry  the  much 


GROSTETE  AND  WICKLIFFE.  37 

coveted  title,  of  "  Defender  of  the  Faith;"  a 
title,  by  the  way,  to  which  he  and  his  successors 
on  the  throne  have  tenaciously  adhered. 

The  king  was  also  a  munificent  patron  of 
learning  and  learned  men ;  though  it  must  be 
confessed,  that  cardinal  Wolsey  surpassed  him 
in  this  respect,  so  much  so,  that  his  memory 
deserves  to  be  cherished  for  this  alone,  if  nothing 
else.  He  founded  colleges,  and  employed  his 
princely  revenue  in  building  up  institutions  of 
learning,  which,  it  ought  to  be  noted,  at  this 
time  began  to  revive  and  flourish,  and  was  one 
of  the  important  means  of  furthering  the  cause  of 
the  Reformation. 

Before  the  period  of  which  we  are  now  writing, 
considerable  had  been  done  towards  preparing 
the  minds  and  hearts  of  the  people  for  the  great 
change  in  rehgious  matters,  which  was  about  to 
take  place.  So  early  as  a.  d.  1235,  Robert 
Grostete,  bishop  of  Lincoln,  openly  opposed  po- 
pish corruptions  and  extortions  :  he  hindered  pope 
Innocent  III.  from  nominating  an  infant  nephew 
to  a  canonry  in  his  cathedral :  he  enforced  disci- 
pline, reformed  .abuses,  and  denounced  papal 
encroachments.  In  1-352,  a  remarkable  work 
appeared,  entitled  the  -'  Complaint  of  the  Plough- 
man."   The  unknown  author  attacked  with  great 


3S  REFORMATION  IN  ENGLAND. 

severity  some  of  the  worst  of  the  corruptions  of 
Rome,  as  auricular  confession,  abuses  of  ceHbacy, 
wickedness  of  the  popes,  indolence  of  the  clergy, 
&c.  Richard  Fitzralph,  archbishop  of  Armagh, 
at  the  same  date,  preached  earnestly  against 
those  pests,  the  mendicant  friars.  At  this  time, 
too,  John  Wickhffe  arose,  by  whose  learning, 
zeal,  activity,  and  boldness,  the  cause  of  truth 
was  much  advanced,  and  men's  eyes  were  in  a 
measure  opened  to  the  enormity  of  papal  abuses. 
To  him  belongs  the  glory  of  having  first  published 
the  Bible  in  Enghsh.*     His  opinions  on  several 

*  It  must  not  be  supposed  that  Wickliffe  had  the  Bible  printed; 
this  was  a  later  invention.  He  simply  translated  and  circulated  in 
manuscript  as  many  copies  or  portions  of  Holy  Writ  as  he  could. 
The  art  of  printing,  which  has  had  so  great  an  effect  upon  the 
world,  was  discovered  in  1440,  and  from  its  evident  value,  not  long 
after  came  into  general  use. 

"  By  this  great  and  good  work  (the  translation  of  the  Bible)  the 
pleasure  of  the  Most  High  prospered  in  Wickliffe's  hand.  An 
eager  appetite  for  Scriptural  knowledge  was  excited  among  the 
people,  which  they  would  make  any  sacrifice,  and  risk  any  danger 
to  gratify.  Entire  copies  of  the  Bible,  when  they  could  only  be 
multiplied  by  means  of  amanuenses,  were  too  costly  to  be  within 
the  reach  of  veiy  many  readers ;  but  those  who  could  not  procure 
*  the  volume  of  the  Book,'  would  give  a  load  of  hay  for  a  few 
favorite  chapters,  and  many  such  scraps  were  consumed  upon  the 
persons  of  the  martyrs  at  the  stake.  Tliey  would  hide  the  forbidden 
treasure  under  the  floors  of  their  houses,  and  put  their  lives  in  peril, 
rather  than  forego  the  book  they  desired ;  they  would  sit  up  all 


GENERAL  DISSATISFACTION.  39 

points  were  extravagant  and  manifestly  errone- 
ous, but  he  deserves  great  credit  for  his  daring 
to  preach  as  he  did  at  the  peril  of  his  life.  His 
followers  were  called  Lollards,  though  the  origin 
of  the  name  is  not  very  clear.  Many  of  them 
w^ere  martyrs  to  the  truth  which  was  afterwards 
estabhshed  at  the  Reformation:  we  can  now 
instance  only  Sir  John  Oldcastle,  lord  Cobham, 
who  was  burnt  with  circumstances  of  revolting 
cruelty  at  London,  a.  d.  1418,  because  he  de- 
nied transubstantiation  and  other  corrupt  doctrines 
of  the  Roman  Church.  Li  fact,  the  sentiments 
of  Wickhfle  spread  so  widely  and  so  rapidly,  as 
to  give  great  alarm  to  the  prelates  of  the  Church. 
His  followers  were  bitterly  persecuted,  yet  still 
they  continued  to  increase,  and  to  propagate  the 
sentiments  of  hatred  for  priestly  tyranny,  sloth 
and  luxury,  and  for  the  various  pernicious  doc- 
trines which  were  maintained  by  a  large  part  of 
the  Church.    This  hatred  of  long  standing  abuses 

night,  their  doors  being  shut  for  fear  of  surprise,  reading  or  hearing 
others  read  the  Word  of  God  ;  they  would  bury  themselves  in  the 
woods,  and  there  converse  with  it  in  solitude  ;  they  would  tend 
their  herds  in  the  fields,  and  still  steal  an  hour  for  drinking  in  the 
good  tidings  of  great  joy : — thus  was  the  angel  come  down  to  trouble 
the  water,  and  there  was  only  wanted  some  providential  crisis  to 
put  the  nation  into  it,  that  it  might  be  made  whole." — Blunt's 
Sketch  of  the  Reformation  in  England,  p.  101. 


40  REFORMATION  IN  ENGLAND. 

was  evidently  increased  likewise,  by  a  circum- 
stance which  occurred  in  the  beginning  of  Henry's 
reign.  In  the  year  1514,  Hunne,  a  respectable 
citizen  of  London,  was  apprehended  for  resisting 
certain  parish  fees,  and  thrown  into  the  bishop's 
prison,  where  he  was  found  dead.  The  coroner's 
jury  returned  a  verdict  of  wilful  murder  against 
Horsey,  the  bishop's  chancellor,  and  although  he 
was  acquitted  after  trial,  still  a  deep  dislike  was 
fostered  against  the  priestly  order  by  this  un- 
toward event. 

It  may  be  doubted,  however,  whether  any  or 
all  the  causes  at  this  time  at  work,  would  have 
been  sufficient  to  have  led  to  speedy  reformation 
in  the  Church,  without  some  other  powerful  aid 
coming  from  without.  The  increase  of  learning, 
the  printing  and  circulation  of  the  New  Testa- 
ment, the  study  of  the  Bible  to  some  extent  in 
the  original,  lectures  on  the  Scriptures,  preaching 
of  sennons,  spreading  of  tracts,  and  short  trea- 
tises, the  abhorrence  of  the  tyranny  and  open 
corruption  of  life  and  manners  among  many  of 
the  clergy,  the  scandal  of  monasteries  and  nun- 
neries, the  longing  desire  after  something  higher 
and  holier  than  was  offered  in  the  popular  re- 
ligion of  the  day ; — these,  and  similar  things, 
were   working   powerfully    in   undermining   the 


QUESTION  OF  THE  DIVORCE.  41 

papal  system,  and  preparing  the  people  for  a 
better  state  in  religion  and  morals.  Yet,  after 
all,  had  not  the  ungovernable  passions  and  the 
unconquerable  self-will  of  Henry  VIII.  been 
thwarted,  and  his  desires  been  interfered  with,  it 
is  probable  that  old  abuses,  and  especially  that 
most  grievous  one,  the  pope's  supremacy,  would 
have  continued  in  force  much  longer.  It  is  worth 
while  to  trace  out  this  matter  somewhat  more 
fully. 

The  king  and  queen  had  now  been  hving 
together  nearly  nineteen  years  ;  they  had  had 
three  sons  and  two  daughters,  all  of  whom,  ex- 
cept Mary,  had  been  removed  by  early  deaths ; 
Katharine's  dowry  of  immense  wealth  had  been 
squandered  away,  and  she  herself,  by  ascetic 
devotion  and  increasing  infirmities,  had  become 
unattractive  to  the  capricious  Henry ;  the  princess 
Maiy's  legitimacy  had  been  questioned  by  the 
French  ambassador,  when  her  marriage  wdth  the 
duke  of  Orleans  w^as  in  agitation ;  and  the  young 
and  beautiful  Anne  Boleyn  had  fallen  in  the 
king's  way.  It  is  difficult  to  say  what  it  was 
which  rendered  Heniy  alarmingly  scrupulous  as 
to  the  lawfulness  of  his  marriao:e  with  his  bro- 
ther's  wddow  ;  yet  it  is,  after  all,  a  matter  of  no 
great  consequence  ;  the  Reformation  is  not  to  be 
3* 


42  REFORMATION  IN  ENGLAND. 

judged  by  the  character  or  motives  of  some  of 
the  leading  actors  in  it.     The  evil  life  of  some 
of  those  engaged  in  promoting  reformation,  is  no 
argument  against   its    necessity  and    value,    no 
more  than  the  wickedness  of  some  who  bear  the 
Christian  name  is  an  argument  against  the  blessed 
Gospel,  on  which  they  bring  disgrace.     Whether 
honestly  or   not,    Henry's  scruples   became    so 
urgent   that   he   determined  to    seek  a  divorce. 
He  applied  to  pope  Clement  VII.  for  that  pur- 
pose, in  1527,   but  relief  came  not.     The  pope 
was  very  willing  to  gratify  Henry,  if  he  could  do 
it  safely;  but  if  he  granted  the  king's  desire,  he 
would  thereby  mortally  offend  the  powerful  em- 
peror of  Germany,    Charles   V.,    who  was   the 
nephew  of  queen  Katharine,   and  who  had  re- 
cently taken  Rome,  and  thereby  got  Clement  in 
his  power.     Thus  he  was  in  a  complete  dilemma ; 
he    dared    not    decide    either  way ;    for  neither 
Henry  nor  Charles  would  bear  to  be  trifled  with, 
and  either  he  knew  would  prove  a  formidable 
enemy.     The  matter  continued  in  this  vexatious 
state  of  indecision  for  six  years,  during  which, 
under  a  show  of  carrying  the  case  through  for 
determination,  the  pope  was  only  deceiving  the 
king,  meaning,   if  possible,  never  to  pronounce 
any  decision  whatever,    and  hoping  that  some 


THOMAS  CRANMER.  43 

casualty  or  other  might  free  him  from  his  per- 
plexity. 

Meanwhile,  Henr}^  who  never  swerved  from 
his  determination  when  once  he  had  made  up 
his  mind  to  a  thing,  was  taking  measures  for 
breaking  with  the  pope  if  need  be.  In  November, 
1529,  a  parliament  was  called,  in  which  Wolsey 
was  impeached,  and  bills  against  various  exac- 
tions on  the  part  of  the  clergy,  were  passed. 
Shortly  before,  Thomas  Cranmer — a  name  of 
great  note  in  the  history  of  these  times — was  un- 
expectedly brought  to  the  notice  of  the  king. 
He  sus^ested  a  course  which  struck  Henry's 
fancy  as  the  veiy  best  which  could  be  adopted. 
It  was  to  the  effect,  that  the  king  should  collect 
the  judgments  of  the  principal  universities  and 
divines  in  Europe,  and  then  decide  the  question 
by  his  own  clergy.  Accordingly,  Cranmer  was 
immediately  taken  into  the  king's  service,  and 
not  long  after,  dispatched  abroad  on  the  business 
of  the  divorce.  His  success  was  very  great. 
The  general  decision  was  in  favor  of  the  divorce, 
and  against  the  power  of  the  pope  to  give  any 
dispensation  in  a  matter  which  is  contrary  to 
God's  Word.  Notice  of  this  was  sent  to  the 
pope  in  the  shape  of  a  memorial,  complaining  of 
the  outrageous  delays   in   settling  the  question, 


44  REFORMATION  IN  ENGLAND. 

and  significantly  intimating,  that  unless  more  ex- 
pedition was  used,  the  king  would  resort  to  other 
remedies. 

Henry  soon  proved  that  he  was  in  earnest. 
He  brought  the  whole  body  of  the  clergy  under 
the  statute  of  prarmmire,'^  in  1531,  for  submitting 
to  Wolsey's  legatine  authority,  and  compelled 
them  not  only  to  pay  him  an  enormous  amount  of 
money  for  their  release,  but  also  to  recognize  him 
as  "  sole  and  supreme  head  of  the  Church,  next 
and  immediately  after  Christ."  And,  what  was 
still  more  important — he  determined  to  take  the 
law  into  his  own  hands,  and  was  privately  mar- 
ried to  Anne  Boleyn,  on  St.  Paul's  day,  January 
25th,  1532  ;  thus,  in  fact,  setting  the  pope's  dis- 
pensation and  opinion  at  defiance. 

The  same  year,  Cranmer  was  ordered  home 
by  the  king,  who  had  determined  to  raise  him  to 
the  archbishopric,  now  vacant  by  the  death  of 
Warham.  This  post  was  neither  sought  for  nor 
desired  by  Cranmer :  he  opposed  it  in  every 
way  he  possibly  could  :  he  declared  that  he  was 
married,  a  serious  obstacle  ;  then,  that  he  could 
not  take  the  usual  oath  to  the  pope,  except  under 
protest;  also,  that  neither  his  habits  nor  his  wishes 

*  See  Glossary  of  Terms, 


CRANMER  ARCHBISHOP.  45 

were  at  all  in  unison  with  so  high  and  so  dan- 
gerous a  position.  But  nothing  would  satisfy 
Henry  except  he  was  obeyed  in  this  matter. 
So  Cranmer  reluctantly  acceded  to  the  king's 
wishes.  But  before  his  consecration,  which  took 
place,  March  30th,  1533,  he  solemnly  declared, 
*'  that  he  should  only  take  the  oath  to  the  Roman 
see  to  comply  with  an  established  custom :  that 
he  would  not  be  a  party  to  any  proceedings  by 
which  the  law  of  God,  or  the  prerogatives  of  the 
king  or  state  of  England  would  be  affected  ;  and 
that  he  would  adopt  no  measures  except  such  as 
seemed  advantageous  to  the  reformation  of  the 
Church  or  state."  With  this  explicit  reservation, 
Cranmer  entered  upon  the  duties  of  his  responsi- 
ble and  burdensome  office. 

On  the  23d  of  May,  the  archbishop,  with  Gar- 
diner, bishop  of  Winchester — a  subtle,  unscru- 
pulous and  dangerous  man,  as  he  afterwards 
proved — as  one  of  his  assessors,  formally  pro- 
nounced sentence  in  the  case  of  the  king  and 
Katharine  :  it  was,  that  the  marriage  was  void 
from  the  beginning,  because  contracted  with  a 
brother's  widow.  Hard  measure  this  for  the 
sorrowing  wife  and  queen,  the  much  suffering 
and  deeply  injured  Katharine.  Our  sympathies 
cannot  but  be  excited   in  her  behalf,  and   she 


46  REFORMATION  IN  ENGLAND. 

claims  our  respect  and  admiration  for  her  sincere 
piety  and  consistency,  and  for  the  dignity  and 
propriety  of  her  deportment  during  this  most 
trying  period  of  her  hfe. 

Though  matters  had  gone  to  this  length-^the 
divorce  pronounced  and  Anne  Boleyn  pubhcly 
acknowledged  as  Henry's  wife — still  he  hoped 
and  made  efforts  to  keep  on  terms  with  the  pope. 
From  the  disposition  of  Clement  VII.,  his  unwill- 
ingness to  lose  the  richest  kingdom  under  his 
authority,  and  the  active  interference  of  Francis 
First  of  France,  it  is  highly  probable  that  in  some 
way  or  other,  the  afl^air  might  have  been  com- 
promised and  England  still  retained,  had  not  a 
providential  delay  of  Henry's  messenger,  sent 
with  concessions  on  his  part,  induced  the  pope  to 
affirm  the  legality  of  his  marriage  with  Katharine, 
and  to  require  him,  under  pain  of  ecclesiastical 
censures,  to  receive  her  again  as  his  v.dfe.  This 
memorable  decision  was  made  in  March,  1534, 
at  the  very  time  when  great  events  were  occur- 
rino-  in  Enofland.* 

*  It  may  be  remarked  here,  that  the  23d  of  March,  1534,  the 
day  on  which  the  sentence  was  pronounced  at  Rome,  was  also  the 
very  day  on  which  the  act  for  the  succession  to  the  crown  was 
passed  in  England  ;  and  that  the  parhament  which  completed  the 
great  ecclesiastical  revolution  was  prorogued  before  it  was  possible 
that  intelligence  should  arrive  from  Rome. — Le  Bas's  Life  of 
Cranmer,  vol.  i.  p.  GO. 


PAPAL  SUPREMACY  SUPPRESSED.  47 

Henry  was,  as  might  be  expected,  deeply  en- 
raged at  this  fruitless  result,  and  he  now  firmly 
resolved  upon  what  he  had  all  along  been  pre- 
paring for,  viz.,  to  cut  loose  entirely  from  Rome 
and  to  crush  the  papal  supremacy  in  his  kingdom. 
Accordingly  parliament  (which  was  always  very 
subservient  to  the  king's  will)  having  passed  laws 
suppressing  the  pope's  supremacy,  passed  other 
acts,  early  in  this  same  year,  (1534,)  which  re- 
Heved  the  kingdom  from  the  burdensome  e;*i:ac- 
tions  of  annates,  bulls,  appeals,  dispensations, 
Peter's  pence,*  and  various  things  of  the  kind, 
by  which  the  court  of  Rome  derived  annually 
from  England  an  immense  revenue.  The  Church, 
in  convocation  assembled,  agreed  very  readily  to 
these  cheering  proofs  of  better  things  to  come ; 
for  when  the  question  was  proposed  to  the  bishops 
and  clergy  in  the  provincial  synods  of  Canterbury 
and  York,  "  whether  the  pope  of  Rome  has,  in 
the  Word  of  God,  an}^  greater  jurisdiction  in  the 
realm  of  England  than  any  other  foreign  bishop  ?  " 
it  was  decided,  with  great  unanimity,  that  he  had 
not.  The  universities  concurred  in  this  judgment. 
The  various  chapters,  convents  of  regulars,  men- 
dicants,   &c.,   throughout  the  kingdom,   also  de- 

*  See  Glossary  of  Terms. 


48  REFORMATION  IN  ENGLAND. 

clared  their  assent,  and  only  one  bishop — Fisher 
of  Rochester — refused  to  unite  in  this  decision 
whereby  the  papal  supremacy  in  England  was 
regularly  and  vaUdly  suppressed. 

At  this  point  we  shall  ask  our  readers  to  pause 
awhile,  and  reflect  upon  what  had  been  actually 
done  towards  bringing  the  Church  of  England 
out  of  papal  bondage  into  the  glorious  liberty  of 
the  Gospel  of  Christ.  The  pope,  as  we  have 
seen,  like  many  an  other  cunning  man,  had  over- 
reached himself,  and  by  his  contemptible  trickery 
and  delays,  had  driven  Henry  into  a  step  which 
destroyed  the  first  and  grand  article  of  papal 
power,  viz.,  the  supremacy.  This  was  the  start- 
ing point ;  this  was  the  entering  wedge ;  without 
this  all  other  efforts  would  have  been  compara- 
tively powerless.  So  long  as  the  pope  was  ac- 
knowledged supreme  head  of  the  Church  in. the 
realm  of  England,  just  so  long  was  it  impossible 
to  do  any  thing  really  effective  in  the  way  of 
reform. 

Besides  this,  several  other  things  deserve  to  be 
noted.  The  archbishopric  of  Canterbury  w^as 
filled  by  a  man  of  great  learning,  zeal  and  dili- 
gence, and  possessed  of  tlie  lasting  confidence 
and  affections  of  Henry.  Cranmer,  the  great 
promoter  of  the  Reformation,  was  no  ordinary 


cranmer's  life  and  services.  49 

man  ;  and  we  doubt  if  there  was  any  in  England 
who  could  have  filled  that  see  with  so  much  real 
benefit  to  the  Church  and  to  the  cause  of  pure 
religion.  Born  of  a  good  family  in  1489,  he  early 
became  distinguished  for  those  qualities  which 
shone  out  so  conspicuously  in  after  years :  his 
reputation  for  scholarship  was  very  high  at  the 
university  of  Cambridge,  where  he  was  succes- 
sively a  fellow,  lecturer,  and  university  examiner 
of  candidates  for  theological  degrees.  His  life 
and  services,  which  unhappily  it  has  become 
somewhat  fashionable  of  late  years  to  undervalue, 
require  deep  and  careful  study  rightly  to  see 
and  feel  their  importance  and  value.  It  should 
be  remembered,  too,  that  the  new  queen  was 
of  a  family  earnestly  and  sincerely  attached  to 
the  Reformation,  and  she  herself  was  a  warm 
friend  to  those  who  had  in  view  the  purity  and 
prosperity  of  the  Church,  and  did  all  in  her 
power  to  further  the  cause  of  truth  and  piety. 
Moreover,  some  of  the  bishops,  with  Cranmer  at 
their  head,  were  dihgently  engaged  in  endeavor- 
ing to  procure  a  new  translation  of  the  Bible ; 
and  numerous  publications  were  issued  tending 
to  open  the  eyes  of  the  people  and  set  them  to 
thinking,  a  thing  to  which,  for  a  long  time,  they 
had  been  but  little  accustomed. 


50  REFORMATION  IN  ENGLAND. 

In  these  respects  the  prospect  seemed  favorable 
for  carrying  on  to  a  successful  completion  the 
great  work  of  reforming,  that  is,  restoring  to 
primitive  purity  and  soundness,  the  corrupt  and 
suffering  Church  of  England.  At  the  same  time, 
it  must  be  confessed,  that  the  way  before  the 
Reformers  was  dark  and  uncertain,  and  no  one 
knew  how  soon  he  might  have  to  seal  his  testi- 
mony with  his  blood.  Henry  was  a  tyrant,  a 
capricious,  selfish,  unfeeling  tyrant,  and  therefore 
not  'at  all  to  be  depended  on.  He  does  not  seeni 
ever  to  have  entered  heartily  into  the  views  of 
those  who,  like  Cranmer,  desired  to  restore 
primitive  purity  and  godhness.  He  was  as  tena- 
cious of  his  own  supremacy  as  ever  the  pope 
could  have  been  respecting  that  of  the  successor 
of  St.  Peter  ;  and  he  was  as  ready  to  burn  those 
whod  oubted  or  denied  this  point,  as  if  it  had 
been  a  matter  of  faith  essential  to  salvation.* 


*  In  one  sense  it  might  even  be  fairly  said,  that  Henry  was  a 
more  ardent  papist  than  before  (the  pope's  supremacy  was  ruined 
in  England ;)  the  supreme  pontificate  being  now  transferred  to  his 
own  hand.  It  was  almost  natural  that  he  should  look  with  more 
complacency  than  ever  upon  the  sacred  deposite  of  doctrine  and 
tradition,  now  that  he  had  been  enabled  to  usurp  the  care  of  it. 
There  remained  no  one  personal  interest  to  shake  his  allegiance  to 
the  Romish  religion,  considered  merely  as  a  scheme  of  belief.  The 
possessions  of  the  hierarchy,  indeed,  were  still  left  to  tempt  his 


PROSPECTS  OF  THE  REFORMERS.  61 

The  great  mass  of  the  clergy,  too,  were  wedded 
to  the  old  superstitions  and  abuses,  and  with 
very  few  exceptions,  the  archbishop  had  none  on 
whom  he  could  certainly  rely.  Ignorance  the 
most  deplorable,  nay,  almost  incredible,  prevailed 
not  only  among  the  common  people,  but  also 
among  their  spiritual  guides  and  directors.  Li- 
centious discussion  was  every  where  carried  on  ; 
men's  minds  were  in  a  ferment;  restlessness, 
uncertainty,  doubt,  wonder,  unbelief,  all  had 
their  place,  and  were  leavening  the  community 
with  the  powerful  and  discordant  elements  of 
strife  and  disunion ;  and  men  were  fast  being 
prepared  for  any  extravagance  of  fanatical  wick- 
edness and  fierceness. 

For  these,  and  similar  reasons,  the  prospect  to 
the  Reformers  was  far  from  being  bright  and 
cheering,  and  had  it  depended  on  their  might  or 
their  wisdom,  the  suffering  Church  of  England 

rapacity  ;  but  the  work  of  spoliation  might  be  effected  with  scarcely 
the  sacrifice  of  a  single  dogma.  And  accordingly,  in  all  essential 
respects,  Henry  continued  to  his  dying  day,  nearly  as  rigid  a  Ro- 
manist as  when  he  first  earned  his  title  of  Defender  of  the  Faith :  and 
the  only  wonder  is,  that  with  such  a  pope  at  the  head  of  the  Church, 
Cranmer  should  have  been  able  during  his  reign,  to  advance  a 
single  step  towards  that  more  effective  reformation  which  he  after- 
wards so  happily  accomplished. — Lk  Bas's  Life  of  Cranmer,  vol.  i. 
p.  80. 


52  REFORMATION  IN  ENGLAND. 

would  probably  never  have  been  released  from 
the  thraldom  of  popery.  But  it  was  not  by  an 
arm  of  flesh  that  our  fathers  were-  delivered. 
God  was  in  the  midst  of  His  Church  ;  He  blessed 
the  study  of  His  pure  Word ;  He  stirred  up  the 
hearts  of  His  servants  to  labor  diligently  in  the 
great  work  set  before  them  ;  He  taught  them  not 
to  count  their  lives  dear  unto  themselves  in  the 
cause  of  Christ  ;  His  Holy  Spirit's  influence 
rested  upon  their  efforts ;  He  put  a  hook  into  the 
nose  of  that  leviathan — the  tyrant  Henry  VIII. — 
and  made  that  he  was  faithful  to  Cranmer,  the 
great,  good,  and  humble  minded,  when  he  was 
faithful  to  no  one  else. 

Even  so  it  was  ;  and  as  we  look  back  upon  the 
events  of  a  few  years — most  important  in  their 
effects — we  may  well  render  thanks  to  Almighty 
God  and  recognize  His  over-ruling  providence  in 
human  affairs.  What  so  unlikely  as  that  the 
king,  a  bigotted  papist — retaining  his  partiality 
to  the  tenets  and  dogmas  of  Rome  even  to  his 
death — and  a  writer  in  its  defence,  should  be  the 
principal  agent  in  causing  its  ruin  in  England? 
What  more  singular  than  that  the  pope,  cool, 
cautious,  calculating,  and  unusually  wary  not  to 
proceed  to  extremities,  should  have  been  strangely 
intemperate  and  hot,  all  of  a  sudden ;   and  by 


PROVIDENTIAL  GUIDANCE.  53 

refusing  to  wait  for  a  messenger  hourly  expected, 
should  have  forever  closed  the  door  of  reconcilia- 
tion between  Henry  and  himself"?  Who  can 
observe  all  this  and  not  acknowledge  the  short 
sighted  policy  of  earthly  designs  and  prospects : 
and  who  can  fail  to  thank  that  Almighty  Power 
who  setteth  at  naught  the  wisdom  and  prudence 
of  man,  and  governeth  the  world  according  to 
those  laws  which  most  surely  promote  the  in- 
terests of  His  creatures  ! 


CHAPTER   II. 


A.  D.  1534—1539. 

The  king's  supremacy — Fisher  and  More  refuse  the  oath — are  ex- 
ecuted— Visitation  of  the  monasteries — Cromwell — his  hfe  and 
character — reasons  requiring  the  visitation — motives  of  the  king 
and  court — motives  of  the  Reformers — results  of  the  visitation — 
state  of  the  convents— dissolution  of  the  smaller  ones — death  of 
queen  Anne  Boleyn — wickedness  of  the  act — Jane  Seymour — 
articles  of  doctrine  and  practice — royal  proclamation — effect  of 
breaking  up  the  monasteries — insurrections — pilgrimage  of  grace 
— new  visitation  ordered — report  of  the  visitors — imposture  and 
deceit  in  the  religious  houses — exceptions — dissolution  of  the 
monasteries  absolutely  necessary — shameful  per\'^ersion  of  their 
wealth  and  wasteful  wickedness  of  the  king—good  flowing  from 
evil. 

The  pope's  supremacy,  as  we  have  seen,  was 
abolished  in  England  by  the  acts  of  parliament, 
in  1534  :  the  immediate  consequence  of  this  im- 
portant step  was,  the  requiring  an  oath  to  be 
taken  to  the  king  as  supreme  in  the  Church  as 


FISHER  AND  MORE.  56 

well  as  state,  and  settling  the  succession  of  the 
crown  on  the  children,  if  any,  of  Henry  and 
Anne,  under  penalties  of  the  most  extreme  se- 
verity. The  major  part  of  the  nation,  both 
clergy  and  laity,  very  readily  agreed  to  this 
change  of  allegiance,  for  which  indeed  they  had 
become  prepared  by  the  previous  acts  of  the 
king  and  parliament.  There  was  not,  however, 
a  universal  assent  to  the  act  of  succession.  Many 
of  the  friars,  denying  the  royal  supremacy, 
were  put  to  death.  Fisher,  the  aged  bishop  of 
Rochester,  and  Sir  Thomas  More,  lord  chancellor 
of  England,  were  willing  to  swear  fidelity  to  the 
succession  to  the  throne  as  appointed  by  law ; 
but  they  refused  to  commit  themselves  to  the 
statements  of  the  preamble  to  the  act  which 
involved  an  affirmation  of  the  nullity  of  the 
marriage  with  Katharine,  and  the  validity  of 
that  wdth  Anne  Boleyn.  It  was  urged  by  Cran- 
mer,  that  their  conscientious  scruples  on  this 
point  should  be  grcitified,  especially  as  they 
agreed  to  every  thing  that  was  essential,  viz., 
the  supreme  authority  of  the  king  over  all  his 
subjects ;  and  still  more,  as  they  w^ere  men  of 
note  and  great  weight  in  the  community.  But 
Henry's  obstinate  adherence  to  his  own  will  was 
shockingly  manifested  ;    nothing  would  satisfy 


56  REFORMATION  IN  ENGLAND. 

him  except  unconditional  obedience,  and  this 
being  refused,  he  sent  them  both  to  the  tower 
to  try  if  imprisonment  and  hardships  would  not 
break  down  their  opposition.  Neither  Fisher 
nor  More  yielded  ;  so  that  the  king,  who  never 
let  any  obstacle  hinder  him  when  his  mind  was 
set  upon  an  object,  in  the  course  of  the  next  year 
had  them  tried,  convicted  and  executed  upon 
the  scaffold.*  This  outrageous  proceeding  will 
always  remain  a  foul  blot  upon  the  character  of 
the  king,  who  dared  thus  to  commit  acts  of 
legalized  murder. 

The  next  step  of  importance,  was  the  appoint- 
ment of  a  commission  for  a  general  visitation  of 
the  monasteries  and  other  religious  houses,  and 
an  inquiry  into  their  state  and  condition,  with 
the  intention,  no  doubt,  of  breaking  up  a  large 
number  of  them.  At  the  head  of  this  commission, 
was  placed  a  layman,  who  filled  a  large  space 
in  these  eventful  times,  who  exercised  very  con- 
siderable influence  in  furthering  the  Reformation, 
and  whose  rise  and  fall  are   alike  remarkable 


*  The  execution  of  these  eminent  men,  the  one  nearly  fourscore, 
venerable  also  for  his  erudition  and  his  virtues, — the  other,  the  most 
distinguished  ornament  of  his  age  and  country,  was  regarded 
throughout  Christendom  with  wonder  and  detestation. — Southey's 
Book  of  the  Church,  chap.  xii. 


Cromwell's  life  and  character.        57 

and  impressive.  Thomas  Cromwell  was  of  hum- 
ble origin,  and  brought  up  in  the  house  of  Wol- 
sey,  whom  he  served  with  faithfulness,  zeal  and 
ability,  even  to  the  hour  of  that  great  man's  fall. 
His  talents  recommended  him  to  the  king,  with 
whom  he  so  ingratiated  himself  that  he  rose 
rapidly,  and  though  his  ambition  was  time-ser- 
ving, and  desire  of  office  and  power  his  ruling 
motive,  still  we  cannot  doubt  that  his  convictions 
were  decidedly  in  favor  of  the  Reformation,  and 
his  efforts  sincerely  bent  towards  setting  it  for- 
ward. He  was  created  vicar-general  for  the 
visitation  of  the  monasteries  and  settling  of  eccle- 
siastical affairs,  and  subsequently  he  became 
lord  vicegerent,  an  office  which  gave  him  all  the 
power  previously  enjoyed  by  the  pope  in  the 
English  Church,  and  which  was  certainly  a 
dangerous  infringement  of  the  powers  and  pre- 
rogatives of  the  bishops.  Cromwell  afterwards 
rose  to  the  earldom  of  Essex,  but  by  one  false 
step  he  lost  the  favor  of  the  king,  and  in  1540, 
perished  on  the  scaffold,  a  striking  monument 
of  the  instability  of  human  greatness. 

The  commission  was  extremely  active,  and, 
as  might  be  supposed,  very  successful  in  accom- 
plishing an  end  equally  desired — though  for  very 
different  reasons — by  the    king   and   a  hungry 
4 


58  REFORMATION  IN  ENGLAND. 

crowd  of  rapacious  courtiers,  and  by  the  devoted 
archbishop  and  the  true  friends  of  rehgion  and 
learning.  The  monasteries  were  the  grand  bul- 
warks of  popery  in  England,  and  so  long  as  they 
existed  it  would  have  been  next  to  impossible 
to  have  effected  reform  in  the  Church.  The 
hold  they  had  upon  the  people,  the  superstitious 
reverence  which  was  paid  to  relics  and  shrines, 
the  great  numbers  of  religious  houses  which 
were  spread  all  over  the  kingdom,  rendered 
these  establishments  engines  of  immense  power 
in  thwarting  the  designs  of  the  Reformers,  and 
in  upholding  the  ancient  superstitions.  It  was 
mainly  on  this  account  that  Cranmer  and  his 
fellow  laborers  desired  their  suppression,  in 
order  that  the  minds  of  the  people  might  be  dis- 
abused, and  the  wealth  which  had  been  bestowed 
upon  the  monasteries,  for  the  purpose  of  promo- 
ting truth  and  piety,  might  be  employed  in  fur- 
nishing— ^what  was  so  much  needed  at  that  time 
— a  body  of  learned,  godly  and  active  clergy. 
The  king,  however,  in  his  profligate  extrava- 
gance, seems  to  have  cast  a  longing  eye  upon 
the  great  wealth  of  the  monastic  houses,  rather 
for  the  purpose  of  gratifying  his  passions  than 
with  any  positive  good  intent ;  and  his  favorites, 
and  the  creatures  about  his  court  and  person, 


STATE  OF  THE   MONASTERIES.  59 

were  as  eager  as  ravenous  dogs  for  the  spoil  in 
which  they  expected  largely  to  share. 

Henry  may  have  had  some  better  motives  in 
view  in  what  he.  purposed :  it  is  asserted  by 
writers  of  eminence  that  he  had,  that  he  meant 
to  expend  the  money  in  founding  bishoprics, 
and  constructing  harbors  for  the  growing  com- 
merce of  England  :  we  are  not  disposed  to  deny 
what  was  probably  true,  that  he  had  some  vague 
notion  of  appropriating  the  great  wealth  of  the 
monasteries  to  some  object  of  public  advantage, 
and  we  are  assured,  that  a  plan  had  been  drawn 
up  for  the  increase  of  Episcopal  supervision. 
However  this  may  be,  the  king  urged  on  the 
commissioners  to  make  speedy  work. 

They  did  so  :  they  found  in  some,  nay  many, 
the  prevalence  of  the  most  infamous  lewdness 
and  debauchery  ;  some  were  sunk  in  sloth  and 
luxury ;  some  were  devoted  to  the  merest  animal 
life  or  childish  absurdities  ;  while  to  others, 
though  a  lamentably  small  proportion  of  the 
whole,  was  rendered  the  just  praise  of  being 
occupied  in  deeds  of  piety  and  learning.  The 
commissioners  made  thorough  work  of  what 
they  did,  for  they  knew  the  master  whom  they 
served ;  and  even  allowing  that  they  exagge- 
rated some  things,  that  they  were  determined  to 


60  REFORMATION  IN  ENGLAND. 

find  evil,  whether  it  existed  to  any  great  extent 
or  not — as  popish  writers  assert — iu  must  never- 
theless be  allowed,  that  it  was  high  time  that 
something  in  the  way  of  reform  should  be  brought 
to  bear  upon  these  houses  of  superstition,  fraud 
and  imposture. 

On  the  report  of  the  commissioners,  parlia- 
ment, early  in  1536,  passed  an  act  dissolving  all 
the  monasteries  of  which  the  annual  income  was 
under  ^200  (or  nearly  $1000.)  By  this  sweep- 
ing blow  no  less  than  three  hundred  and  seventy- 
five  religious  houses  were  broken  up,  and  pro- 
perty to  the  amount  of  $150,000  or  more  per 
annum,  together  with  alarge  sum  (about  $50,000) 
arising  from  plate  and  jewels,  passed  from  the 
hands  of  the  monks  into  those  of  the  king  and 
his  court.  It  is  mournful  to  reflect  that  it  was 
all  quickty  dissipated  and  spent  in  a  way  which 
could  not  profit  either  soul  or  body ;  and  it  is 
sad  and  fearful  to  think  of  the  vast  mass  of 
ignorance,  want  and  disaffection,  which  was  thus 
suddenly  thrown  loose  upon  society.*     It  will 

*  The  effect  of  this  terrible  measure  may  be  iu  some  degree 
estimated  by  considering  the  fact,  that  during  Henry's  reign,  no 
less  than  72,000  persons  are  said  to  have  peridlied  by  the  hand  of 
the  executioner,  sorne  rendered  desperate  in  consequence  of  want, 
and  others  made  bold  by  the  lawless  license  of  the  times. 


ANNE   BOLEYN's    DEATH.  61 

be  seen,  subsequently,  what  sore  evils  grew  out 
of  this  hasty  proceeding. 

A  most  lamentable  event  occurred  this  year, 
which  tended  much  to  dishearten  the  friends 
and  supporters  of  the  Reformation.  It  was  the 
cruel  and  most  unrighteous  condemnation  of 
queen  Anne  Boleyn.  Being  of  a  lively  and 
cheerful  disposition,  tending  almost  to  frivolity, 
at  times,  and  remarkable  for  openness  and  free- 
dom of  manners,  she  frequently  gave  occasion 
for  evil  tongues  to  censure,  and  evil  hearts  to 
pervert  her  words  and  actions.  Henry  seems, 
from  some  cause  or  other,  to  have  cooled  in  his 
love  for  her,  and  to  have  become  jealous  and 
suspicious,  a  state  of  mind  which  was  inflamed 
by  the  haters  of  the  queen  and  the  cause  of  the 
Reformation,  to  which  she  was  well  known  to 
be  a  firm  and  uniform  friend.  Accordingly,  on 
the  most  unfounded  and  contradictory  charges, 
she  was  committed  to  the  tower,  being  deserted 
b}^  all  her  former  friends  except  Cranmer,  who, 
to  his  own  great  risk,  made  strenuous  efforts  to 
soften  the  wrath  and  jealousy  of  the  capricious 
tyrant,  but  in  vain.  She  was  tried  and  con- 
demned  in  secret  by  the  mere  tools  of  the  king, 
and  was  beheaded.  May  19th,  1536.  Perhaps 
the  strongest  proof  of  her  innocence  of  any  crime 


62  REFORMATION  IN  ENGLAND. 

but  that  of  having  lost  Henry's  affection,  is  in 
the  fact  that  the  very  day  after  her  execution, 
the  king,  with  disgusting  haste  and  to  the  out- 
rage of  all  decency,  married  Lady  Jane  Sey- 
mour, a  maid  of  honor  to  the  murdered  queen, 
and  renowned  for  youth  and  beauty.* 

The  destruction  of  Queen  Anne,  however,  did 
not  prove  of  so  much  advantage  to  the  papists 
as  was  hoped  :  for  the  Reformation  kept  its  on- 
ward course.  The  convocation  havinof  consi- 
dered  very  fully  certain  articles  of  doctrine  and 
practice  which  were  submitted  to  them  by  the 
king,  agreed  upon  several  points,  which  were 
accordingly  published  by  the  royal  authority. 
They  are  well  worth  our  notice  and  examination, 
since  they  form  the  earliest  document  relating 
to  the  faith,  issued  by  the  Church  of  England 
since  the  beginning  of  the  Reformation.  Their 
general  outline  is  as  follows  : — 

The  Bible  and  the  three  Creeds  are  laid  down 
as  the  basis  of  our  faith.     Baptism  is  declared  to 

*  The  thorough  hardness  of  Henry's  heart  was  shown,  when  he 
declared  his  marriage  with  Anne  Boleyn  void,  beheaded  her  upon 
a  false  and  monstrous  charge  of  adultery  and  incest,  and  married 
Jane  Seymour  the  next  day.  This  change  produced  no  alteration 
in  religious  affairs,  for  the  new  queen  was  of  a  family  which  favored 
the  Reformation,  and  shared  largely  in  the  plunder  distributed 
under  that  name. — Southey's  Book  of  the  Church,  chap.  xii. 


ARTICLES  OF  FAITH.  63 

be  absolutely  necessary,  so  that  children  dying 
unbaptized  cannot  be  saved. 

Penance,  that  is,   repentance,  is  a  sacrament, 
and  necessary. 

Confession  to  apriest  is  necessary  and  effectual. 

The  corporal  presence,  that  is,  transubstantia- 
tion,  is  necessary  to  be  believed. 

Though  justification  depends  on  the  merits  of 
Christ,  yet  good  works  are  necessary  in  order 
to  obtain  eternal  life. 

With  regard  to  ceremonies,  it  was  ordered, 
that  images  should  be  retained  as  examples  to 
the  people,  but  idolatry  and  the  abuse  of  them, 
was  to  be  guarded  against.  Saints  were  to  be 
honored  as  examples  of  holy  life  and  the  helpers 
of  our  pra^'crs ;  with  this  view  they  were  to  be 
called  on,  but  not  worshipped.  Many  ceremo- 
nies, as  the  use  of  holy  water,  ashes,  palms,  &c. 
were  to  be  retained  as  typical  signs ;  and  prayers 
for  the  dead  were  enjoined,  though  the  existence 
of  purgatory  is  doubted.  It  may  also  be  noted, 
that  no  mention  is  made  of  the  other  four  sacra- 
ments, though  the  use  of  them  is  inculcated  in 
several  of  the  doctrinal  works  which  were  sub- 
sequently published  during  this  reign.* 

*  Bishop  Short's  History  of  the  Church  of  England,  chap.  v. 
§206. 


64  REFORMATION  IN  ENGLAND. 

Immediately  after  the  publication  of  these 
articles,  Cromwell,  the  lord  vicegerent,  by  order 
of  the  king,  issued  a  proclamation,  giving  various 
directions  to  the  clergy,  the  most  important  of 
which  were  these; — the  laws  against  the  pope's 
supremacy,  and  the  authority  of  the  king  in  the 
Church,  were  to  be  faithfully  set  forth  :  super- 
stition was  to  be  discountenanced,  and  the  peo- 
ple taught  to  obey  God's  commandments,  as 
more  acceptable  to  Him  than  pilgrimages  and 
worshipping  of  relics :  Bibles,  in  Latin  and 
English,  were  to  be  set  up  in  the  churches,  and 
the  people  encouraged  to  read  them  :*  children 

*  It  is,  perhaps,  scarcely  possible  for  us  to  imagine  the  eagerness 
with  which  the  people  availed  themselves  of  the  liberty  thus  offered 
them,  by  the  repeated  declarations  of  the  king,  to  consult  the  Sacred 
Volume  for  themselves.  The  impatience  they  manifested  may,  in 
part,  be  ascribed  to  mere  curiosity.  Men  were  naturally  anxious 
to  examine  the  writings  which  had  been  for  ages  so  jealously  locked 
up  from  their  inspection.  Nothing,  however,  but  a  higher  motive, 
can  account  for  the  imiversal  rush  to  the  fountain  of  living  waters, 
the  moment  it  was  unsealed.  Every  one  that  could,  purchased  the 
book  :  and  if  he  was  unable  to  read  it  himself,  he  got  his  neighbor 
to  read  it  to  him.  Numbers  might  be  seen  flocking  to  the  lower 
end  of  the  church  and  forming  a  little  congregation  round  the 
Scripture  reader.  Many  persons,  far  advanced  in  life,  actually 
learned  to  read,  for  the  express  purpose  of  searching  the  oracles  of 
God  :  and  one  instance  has  been  recorded  of  a  poor  boy,  only  fifteen 
years  of  age,  who  voluntarily  incurred  the  same  toil,  and  then  joined 
his  stock  with  a  brother  apprentice  for  the  purchase  of  a  Testament, 


ROYAL  PROCLAMATION.  65 

were  to  be  brought  up  honestly  a.nd  rehgiously, 
being  taught  the  Lord's  Prayer,  the  Creed,  and 
the  Ten  Commandments,  m  the  mother  tongue : 
and  restrictions  were  imposed  upon  non-resi- 
dents, who  were  required  to  devote  a  portion 
of  their  income  to  charitable  purposes,  and  also 
were  to  supply  proper  curates.  The  sound 
sense  and  practical  wisdom  of  these  directions 
are  evident,  without  remark,  and  none,  we  think, 
can  fail  to  see  that,  though  not  wholly  satisfac- 
tory to  either  party,  their  tone  is  clearly  in 
favor  of  reform. 

I  -During  the  summer  of  this  year,  (1536,)  con- 
siderable progress  was  made  in  the  dissolution 
of  the  monasteries.  Many  of  the  larger  ones 
were  voluntarily  surrendered,  to  be  dealt  with 
as  the  king  or  the  commissioners  might  direct, 
it  beino-  very  certain  that  ultimately  they  would 
share  the  «ame  fate  with  those  included  m  the 
bill  recently  passed.  There  was  an  evil,  how- 
ever, connected  with  the  breaking  up  of  the 
monastic  establishments,  which  soon  led  to  seri- 

which  he  concealed  under  the  bed-straw,  and  perused  at  stolen 
moments,  imdisraaycd  by  the  rcproaclies  of  his  mother  and  the 
brutal  violence  of  his  father.— Le  Bas's  Life  of  Cranmer,  vol.  i.  p. 
142. 

4* 


66  REFORMATION  IN  ENGLAND. 

ous  and  even  alarming  results.  Large  numbers 
of  persons,  by  the  dissolution  of  these  houses, 
were  thrown  suddenly  upon  the  world,  unpro- 
vided for,  unemployed,  and  exposed  to  hard- 
ships of  no  ordinary  kind.  Many  of  these,  as 
was  natural,  induced  by  passion,  and  frequently 
urged  on  by  necessity,  sought  to  excite  commo- 
tions among  the  people  against  the  government. 
A  formidable  rising  took  place  in  the  north  of 
England,  which,  in  consequence  of  the  standards 
having  on  them  representations  of  the  five  wounds 
of  Christ  and  of  the  cross,  was  termed  the  Pil- 
grimage of  Grace.  It  was  discovered  that  the 
•abbeys  and  monasteries,  yet  existing,  had  been 
very  active,  in  an  underhand  wa}^,  in  this  serious 
disturbance,  had  supplied  means  to  the  insur- 
gents, had  stirred  up  the  minds  of  the  people, 
had  fomented  discord,  and  had  striven  as  far  as 
possible,  to  drive  the  disaffected  into  acts  of 
positive  and  open  rebellion.  Hence  it  became 
manifest,  that  so  long  as  these  strong-holds  of 
popery  existed,  it  would  be  impossible  to  expect 
reformation  in  religion  or  quiet  in  the  state. 
Accordingly,  for  this  reason,  combined  with  the 
others  which  have  been  mentioned  as  influencing 
the  king  and  court  in  the  case  of  the  smaller 


Corruptions  and  imposture.  G7 

monasteries,  a  new  visitation  was  ordered,  pre- 
paratory to  a  complete  dissolution  of  all  the  re- 
ligious houses  in  England. 

The  visitors  entered  upon  their  work  and  pro- 
secuted it  with  zeal  and  diligence,  and  it  may  be 
that  occasionally  they  displayed  too  great  severity 
and  harshness  ;  but  having  been  charged  with  re- 
ceiving bribes,*  they,  in  retaliation,  laid  open  to 
public  gaze  the  corruptions  and  abominations 
which  their  visit  had  brought  to  light.  A  most  sad 
and  pitiable  catalogue  it  was  indeed  !  imposture 
the  most  gross,  profligacy  the  most  disgusting,  ly- 
ing relics  of  the  most  preposterous  description, 
were  discovered  ;  such  as  the  Virgin  Mary's  gir- 
dle, exhibited  by  eleven  distinct  monasteries  ;  the 
ear  of  Malchus,  cut  off  by  St.  Peter  ;  the  teeth  of 
St.  Apollonia,  (infallible  cures  for  tooth-ache,) 
enough  in  number,  when  collected,  to  fill  a  tun  ; 
some  of  the  coals  which  had  once  blazed  under  the 
gridiron  of  St.  Lawrence  ;  the  spear-head  which 
had  pierced  our  Saviour's  side,  brought  over  from 
Palestine  by  an  angel  of  one  wing  ;  some  of  the 
Saviour's  blood  preserve'd  in  a  phial,  which  to  the 
faithful  appeared  of  a  bright  red  hue,  but  to  all 

*  Bp.  Short,  (Hist.  c.  v.  §211,)  thinks  that  there  is  good  ground 
for  this  charorp. 


*L 


68  REFORMATION  IN  ENGLAND. 

Others  onl}^  dark  and  cheerless  ;  the  old  boots  and 
tattered  shirt  of  that  factious  demagogue,  Thomas 
a  Becket,  and  many  similar  absurd  and  despica- 
ble odds-and-ends  of  imposture  and  deceit.  One 
of  these  villainous  devices  to  rob  and  cheat  the 
people  of  their  money,  and  delude  their  souls  to 
destruction,  was  laid  open  at  St.  Paul's  Cross,  in 
London,  by  order  of  Cromwell ;  it  was  termed 
the  Rood  of  Grace,  and  was  meant  as  an  image  of 
our  Saviour.  It  would  hang  its  lip  when  silver 
was  offered  to  it,  and  shake  its  beard  merrilvwhen 
the  offering  was  of  gold,  much  to  the  astonish- 
ment of  the  simple  populace.  When  taken  to 
pieces,  the  wires  and  secret  springs  by  which  its 
eyes  and  lips  were  moved,  showed  to  what  length 
of  lying  deception  on  the  one  hand,  and  of  credu- 
lity on  the  other,  men  went  at  that  period,  as  well 
as  with  what  shameless  audacity  the  monks  and 
clergy  of  the  popish  part}^  endeavored  to  maintain 
their  power  over  the  people. 

Happil}'  we  are  enabled  to  sa}^,  that  all  the  mo- 
nastic estabhshments  and  religious  houses  were 
not  hopelessly  sunk  in  corruption,  or  engaged  in 
despicable  intrigue  or  deceit ;  no,  it  would  be 
equally  unjust  and  ungenerous  not  to  give  the  due 
meed  of  praise  to  some,  if  not  many  of  the  con- 
vents, where  real  devotion  and  sound   morality 


MONASTERIES  WHY  DISSOLVED.  69 

were  found  to  exist ;  where  liberal  hospitality  and 
munificent  acts  of  charity  marked  the  course  of 
the  members,  and  won  for  them  the  love,  respect 
and  confidence  of  the  community,  but  more  es- 
pecially of  the  common  people. 

There  can  be  no  reasonable  doubt  that  the 
destruction  of  the  monasteries  was  essential  to 
the  progress  of  the  Reformation ;  it  was  felt  to 
be  almost  hopeless  to  expect  to  spread  the  truth 
to  any  extent,  while  so  many  emissaries  of  the 
pope  stood  ready  to  destroy  the  good  which 
might  be  wrought,  and  to  pluck  up  the  seeds  of 
truth  which  might  be  sown  in  the  hearts  of  the 
people;  and  w^hile  the  strong-holds  of  supersti- 
tion and  fraud  existed  in  all  their  power  and 
influence  throughout  the  country.  Their  fall 
was,  therefore,  necessary,  and  in  great  measure 
just.  Most  of  them  had  shamefully  perverted 
the  wealth  left  for  pious  and  charitable  purposes 
to  mere  self-indulgence  and  scandalous  lusts  and 
passions.  Yet  we  mean  not  to  justify  some  of 
the  steps  which  were  taken,  far  less  to  approve 
of  the  motives  of  a  rapacious  king  and  court. 
Henry  coveted  the  wealth  of  the  monasteries, 
and  being  absolute,  he  determined  to  have  it. 
Though  in  point  of  right  he  had  no  claim  what- 
ever to  the  property  left  by  pious  individuals 


70  REFORMATION  IN  ENGI^LAND. 

for  the  sake  of  charity  to  men's  souls  and  bodies, 
still,  he  longed  to  grasp  it.  He  was  willing  to 
compromise  in  some  respects  with  his  conscience, 
in  this  meditated  wholesale  robbery,  by  employ- 
ing a  part — a  very  small  part  as  it  turned  out — 
in  founding  bishoprics  and  institutions  of  public 
benefit.  The  greedy  courtiers  at  his  side  urged 
him  on,  well  knowing  that  they  should  be  sharers 
in  the  spoils ;  and  a  subservient  and  pliant  par- 
liament passed  acts  which  put  into  the  king's 
hands  the  immense  resources  of  the  abbeys  and 
convents.  Had  Henry,  as  in  duty  bound,  de- 
voted this  great  wealth  to  the  use,  or  to  a  similar 
use  with  that  intended  by  the  donors,  he  would 
have  deserved  the  grateful  thanks  of  all  lovers 
of  truth  and  learning ;  but  so  far  from  this  he 
squandered  it  in  his  own  sensual  pleasures  and 
on  his  eager  dependants ;  he  broke  up  the  houses 
which  had  been  time-honored  as  the  home  of  the 
weary  and  way-faring  man,  the  supporters  of 
the  orphan  and  the  friendless,  the  benefactors  of 
the    poor,  the  depositories  of  knowledge  ;*    he 

*  They  had  been  the  alms-houses,  where  the  aged  dependants 
of  more  opulent  families,  the  decrepid  servant  or  decayed  artificer 
retired  as  to  a  home  neither  uncomfortable  nor  humiliating  ;  they 
had  been  county  infirmaries  and  dispensaries  ;  they  had  been  found- 
ling asylums,  relieving  the  state  of  many  orphan  and  outcast  chil- 


GOOD  AND  EVIL  OF  MONASTERIES.  71 

scattered  in  every  direction  thousands  of  helpless 
persons,  pensioned,  it  is  true,  but  most  inade- 
quately, and  unfitted  for  the  ordinary  pursuits  of 
life  ;  he  sent  abroad  over  the  country  multitudes 
of  persons  who,  driven  on  by  want,  or  by  brood- 
ing over  their  hard  lot,  were  ready  to  engage  in 
any  plans,  however  wrong,  to  avenge  themselves 
on  the  government ;  he  changed  the  for  the  most 
part  easy  landlord  which  the  monks  proved  to 
be,  for  a  frequently  hard  and  griping  master, 
who,  scarcely  visiting  his  ill-gotten  lands,  cared 
not  for  the  tenants'  woe  or  weal.  He  refused  to 
listen  to  the  earnest  entreaty  of  the  Reformers, 
who  desired  that  some  of  the  abbeys  might  be 
converted  into  institutions  of  learning,  or,  as  good 
Hugh  Latimer  prayed,  might  be  turned  into 
houses  for  "  preaching,  study  and  prayer :  "  and 
though,  by  the  dissolution  of  a  thousand  or  more 
convents,  large  and  small,  he  became  possessed 
of  wealth  to  the  amount  of  nearly  a  million  dollars 
per  annum,  he  contented  himself,  and  put  off 
the  supplications  of  Cranmer  and  his  colleagues 
by  expending  only  about  one-twentieth  of  that 

dren,  and  ministering  to  their  necessities  ;  tliey  had  been  inns  for 
the  way -faring  man ;  they  filled  up  the  gap  in  which  the  public 
libraries  have  since  stood,  &c. — See  Blunt's  Sketch  of  the  Refor- 
mation in  England,  p.  142. 


4^ 


72  REFORMATION  IN  ENGLAND. 

vast  income  in  the  foundation  of  five  bishoprics, 
several  chapters,  and  two  colleges,  one  at  Oxford 
and  one  at  Cambridge.* 

While,  therefore,  we  regret  deeply  the  per- 
version of  the  wealth  of  the  dissolved  monas- 
teries to  mere  temporal  uses,  we  cannot  but 
acknowledge  that  the  Reformation,  by  this  bold 
step  of  Henry's,  acquired  a  strength  and  activity 
which,  under  God,  was  sure  to  eventuate  in  the 
best  results  ;  and  though  we  are  far  enough  from 
approving  of  the  motives  of  the  king  and  court 
in  what  the}^  did,  still  we  feel  that  in  this,  as  in 
most  cases,  God,  in  His  mercy,  brings  good  out 
of  evil. 

*  Henry,  with  all  the  wealth  which  passed  through  his  hands, 
was  so  improvident  that,  before  the  end  of  hisreign,  he  had  recourse 
to  that  dishonest  and  most  impolitic  measure  of  debasing  his  coin. — 
Bishop  Short,  (Hist  c.  v.  §249.) 


CHAPTER    III. 


A.  D.  1539—1547. 

State  of  things  at  this  date — popish  schemes — martyrs — John 
Lambert — proclamation  against  marriage  of  priests — act  of  Six 
Articles — abstract  of  them — Latimer  and  Shaxton  resign  their 
bishoprics — effect  of  the  articles — birth  of  Edward — death  of 
the  Queen — Henry's  marriage  to  Anne  of  Cleves — disgraceful 
termination  of  the  match — Cromwell's  fall — Romish  ascendancy 
— Cranmer's  Bible — Gardiner's  scheme  to  nullify  the  English 
version — new  Queen — Anne  Askew — her  martyrdom — difficul- 
ties and  trials  of  the  Reformers — Litany  in  English — King's 
Primer — close  of  Henry's  reign — evils  of  the  Reformation — en- 
couragements in  prospect — advances  made — Henry's  death  and 
character — reflections  on  God's  providence. 

Thus  far,  it  is  manifest  that  the  Reformation  was, 
on  the  whole,  advancing  steadily  and  surely. 
The  Scriptures  had  been  published  by  authority, 
the  monasteries  had  been  dissolved,  and  the  va- 
rious corruptions   and  superstitions  which  they 


74:  REFORMATION  IN  ENGLAND. 

fostered  and  kept  alive,  had  been  laid  open  to 
public  gaze,  and  the  people,  as  they  read  and 
heard,  began  to  think  and  to  feel,  in  measure  at 
least,  and  began  to  know  somewhat  of  their  spiri- 
tual wants  and  of  the  Fountain  of  living  waters 
from  which  they  might  freely  draw  for  their  soul's 
comfort  and  refreshment.  The  popish  party, 
however,  with  Gardiner,  the  unprincipled  bishop 
of  Winchester,  at  their  head,  by  flattering  the 
king's  vanity  and  paying  court  to  him  very  assidu- 
ously, managed  to  check  for  a  time  the  onward 
progress  of  reform.  They  did  not  dare  to  oppose 
him  openly  and  honestly,  for  that  would  be  certain 
death,  but  complying  with  every  thing  that  he  set 
his  mind  on,  whether  they  liked  it  or  not,  they 
managed  to  keep  in  his  good  graces,  and  had  op- 
portunity to  suggest  measures  which  would  bear 
hard  on  the  Reformers  and  the  truths  which  they 
preached.  The  consequence  of  this  was,  that 
Henry  thinking  himself  called  on  to  maintain  his 
supremacy  in  Church  as  well  as  state,  did  several 
things  which  deeply  grieved  Cranmer  and  his  as- 
sociates in  the  good  cause,  and  made  the  papists 
exult  in  the  success  of  their  schemes. 

The  first  step  was  to  light  up  the  fire  of  perse- 
cution. Some  years  before,  several  martyrs  had 
suffered  for  denial  of  popish  errors,  especially  that 


MARTYRS JOHN  LAMBERT.  75 

one  which  caused  more  deaths  than  any  other, 
viz.,  transubstantiation.  Bilney,  a  clergyman  of 
Cambridge,  B}- field,  a  monk,  Tewksbury,  a  citi- 
zen of  London,  and  others  were  burnt  as  relapsed 
heretics.  Bainham,  a  lawyer,  Harding,  Hewett, 
a  young  tailor,  and  Frith,  a  young  man  of  note  for 
le"arning  and  piety,  were  burnt  for  denying  the 
'*  corporal  presence,"  or  transubstantiation.  And 
now,  in  1538,  another  was  added  to  the  list.  John 
Lambert,  who  had  been  chaplain  to  the  English 
company  at  Antwerp,  and  intimate  with  T^^ndale, 
the  translator  and  printer  of  the  New  Testament, 
was  arrested,  brought  before  the  king,  whom  Gar- 
diner stirred  up  to  cruelty,  and  after  being  inhu- 
manly insulted  and  abused  by  the  royal  disputant, 
was  delivered  over  to  be  burnt  at  Smithfield,  his 
last  words  being  "  none  but  Christ,  none  but 
Christ."  As  Henry  had  zealously  maintained 
transubstantiation  in  his  book  against  Luther,  he 
seems  tohave  felt  it  incumbent  on  him  to  burn  and 
destroy  all  who  doubted  or  denied  this  dogma  ; 
and  accordinolv  we  find  that  as  in  this  so  in  other 
cases,  he  scrupled  not  to  pursue  to  the  extreme  all 
who  had  the  courage  to  differ  from  the  rehgion 
adopted  by  the  king. 

The  next  thing  which  showed  the  influence  of 
the  haters  of  the  Reformation,  was  the  issuing  of 


76  REFORMATION  IN  ENGLAND. 

a  proclamation  which  reprobated  the  marriage  of 
priests,  and  prohibited  those  who  dared  to  marry 
from  performing -any  sacred  office,  under  pain  of 
losing  all  their  ecclesiastical  privileges. 

The  triumph  of  the  papal  party,  however,  was 
evident  in  what  took  place  in  the  parliament  of 
this  year,  April,  1539,  when  the  famous  act  of  the 
Six  Articles,  as  it  is  called,  was  passed  and  be- 
came a  law,  despite  the  vigorous  and  eloquent  op- 
position of  Cranmer.  These  -articles  were  pro- 
posed by  the  duke  of  Norfolk,  the  great  patron  of 
papal  opinions,  and  were  to  the  following  effect : — 

1st,  That  in  the  sacrament  of  the  altar,  after 
the  consecration,  there  remaineth  no  substance  of 
bread  and  wine,  but  under  these  forms  the  natural 
body  and  blood  of  Christ  are  present. 

2nd,  That  communion,  in  both  kinds,  is  not  ne- 
cessary to  salvation  to  all  persons,  b}'-  the  law  of 
God  ;  but  that  both  the  flesh  and  blood  of  Christ 
are  together  in  each  of  the  kinds. 

3rd,  That  priests,  after  the  order  of  priesthood, 
may  not  marry  by  the  law  of  God. 

4th,  That  vows  of  chastity  ought  to  be  ob- 
served, by  the  law  of  God. 

5th,  That  the  use  of  private  masses  ought  to 
be  continued,  which,  as  it  is  agreeable  to  God's 
law,  so  men  receive  great  benefit  thereby. 


SIX  ARTICLES.  77 

Gth,  That  auricular  confession  is  expedient  and 
necessary,  and  ouG^ht  to  be  retained  in  the  Church. 

The  penakies  by  which  these  Articles  were 
enforced  were  extremely  cruel  and  harsh.  Burn- 
ing at  the  stake,  imprisonment  for  life,  loss  of 
goods  and  chattels,  &c.,  were  the  punishments  for 
speaking  against,  or  opposing  in  any  way,  the  te- 
nets set  forth  in  the  Articles;  and  so  rejoiced  were 
the  opponents  of  reform  that  they  went  to  work 
at  once,  and  soon  brought  great  numbers  to  answer 
for  their  violations  of  the  law  now  in  force. 

Good  old  Hugh  Latimer,  bishop  of  Worcester, 
and  Shaxton,  bishop  of  Salisbury,  whose  con- 
sciences would  not  let  them  subscribe  to  what  they 
were  convinced  w^as  error,and  superstition,  imme- 
diately resigned  their  bishoprics,  and  soon  after 
were  thrown  into  prison  for  imprudently  speaking 
against  the  Six  Articles.  Latimer  remained  there 
till  Henry's  death.  Cranmer,  who  entertained 
sentiments  almost  extravagantly  high,  respecting 
the  power  of  the  king  in  matters  of  religion,  re- 
tained his  post,  though  he  had  earnestly  and  at  the 
risk  of  his  life  contended  against  the  new  law\ 
He  was  obliged  also  to  send  away  privately  his 
wife,  whom  he  had  married  in  Germany,  pre- 
viously to  his  elevation  to  the  see  of  Canterbur}^ 
in  order  that  she   might  remain   in  her  native 


t78  reformation  in  England. 

country ,  out  of  harm's  way,  so  long  as  this  cruelly 
severe  act  continued  in  force.  In  general,  how- 
ever, owing  to  the  powerful  influence  of  Crom- 
well in  favor  of  the  Reformers,  and  the  difficul- 
ties in  the  way  of  enforcing  the  penalties  to  any 
great  extent,  the  act  of  the  Six  Articles  did  not 
fall  so  heavily  as  might  have  been  expected  upon 
the  cause  of  truth  and  virtue. 

■  Queen  Jane  Seymour  died  in  giving  birth  to 
Edward,  afterwards  Edward  VI.,  in  October, 
1537.  She  was  deeply  lamented  by  Henry,  as 
much  so  as  any  one  could  be  by  such  a  man,  and 
for  some  time  he  seemed  to  have  been  sobered  by 
her  loss.  But  he  soon  tired  of  a  solitary  life  and 
resolved  again  to  marry.  Accordingly,  on  repre- 
sentations of  the  beauty  and  charms  of  a  foreign 
princess,  he  made  proposals  which  were  accepted, 
and  in  January,  1540,  he  was  married  to  Anne 
ofCleves,  the  sister  of  a  distinguished  Protestant 
leader  on  the  continent.  As  this  match  proved 
extremely  distasteful  to  the  king,  he  was  not  a  lit- 
tle angry  at  Cromwell  who  had  been  the  principal 
agent  in  bringing  it  about,  and  he  determined, 
with  that  recklessness  which  marked  his  whole 
course  as  far  as  obligations  were  concerned,  to 
annul  the  marriage.  This  was  soon  after  done, 
through  the  pitiable  subserviency  of  the  parlia- 


INDISCRIMINATE    CRUELTY.  7i^ 

ment  and  the  convocation,  and  Anne  was  pen-^ 
sioned  off  on  <£3,000  ($15,000,)  a-year,  appa- 
rently to  her  entire  satisfaction  ;  while  on  Crom- 
well fell  the  weight  of  Henry's  wrath  and  vin- 
dictiveness.  He  was  sent  to  the  Tower,  hated 
by  the  nobility  as  an  upstart,  was  deserted  by  all 
his  friends  except  Cranmer — who  never  forsook  a 
friend  in  need — and  beheaded,  July,  28th,  1540. 

The  death  of  this  great  man  and  able  minister, 
was  a  serious  blow  to  the  cause  of  the  Reforma- 
tion, for  he  had  ever  been  its  constant  supporter 
and  friend,  and  had  aided  materially  in  advan- 
cing its  interests.  His  unrighteous  condemnation 
was  not  the  least  disgraceful  and  odious  among 
the  criminal  acts  of  Henry's  reign. 

The  following  month,  August  8th,  the  king 
was  married  to  Catharine  Howard,  niece  of  the 
duke  of  Norfolk,  the  head  of  the  papal  party  in 
England  ;  an  event  which  strengthened  the  hands 
of  the  opponents  of  reformation  and  enabled  them 
to  use  the  capricious  monarch's  present  anger  to 
the  injury  of  the  cause  of  truth.  The  spirit  of 
persecution  was  let  loose,  and  numerous  martyrs 
bore  testimony  at  the  stake  for  the  faith  of  the 
Gospel ;  3^et,  strange  to  say,  the  king's  cruelty 
was  as  indiscriminate  as  it  was  uncalled  for. 
"  Traitors   and    sacramentaries — the   friends   of 


I 

■■^O  REFORMATION  IN  ENGLAND. 

,  the  papal  authority  and  the  enemies  of  the  papal 
/  doctrine — were  dragged  on  the  same  hurdle  to 
the  gibbet  or  the  stake;"  and  frequently  the 
same  day  and  place  witnessed  the  execution  of 
Romish  martyrs,  denying  the  royal  supremacy, 
and  of  Protestant  confessors,  refusing  to  beheve 
the  royal  creed. 

In  May,  1541,  the  Bible  was  printed  in  the 
form  of  a  large  folio,  and  being  enriched  with  a 
noble  preface  by  the  archbishop,  was  known  as 
Ci'anmer^s  Bible,  It  was  ordered  to  be  set  up  in 
all  the  churches,  on  the  penalty  of  forty  shillings 
a  month  for  every  church  which  should  neglect 
the  royal  ordinance,  The  "  Necessary  Erudition 
of  a  Christian  Man"  was  also  prepared  at  this 
time,  though  it  was  not  published  till  two  3^ears 
after. 

These  steps  in  favor  of  reform  were  not  at  all 
agreeable  to  the  popish  adherents  :  consequently, 
strenuous  efforts  were  made  in  the  convocation 
to  suppress  the  English  Bible,  against  which  ob- 
jections were  raised  on  the  charge  of  its  being 
an  incorrect  version  of  the  original.  Gardiner, 
bishop  of  Winchester,  the  most  subtle,  acute, 
and  determined  enemy  of  the  Reformation,  hit 
upon  a  plan  to  destroy  the  value  of  the  translation 
almost  entirely  to  the  English  reader.     This  was. 


Gardiner's  scheme.  81 

by  retaining  a  great  number  of  words  (a  hundred 
or  more,)  just  as  they  are  in  the  original  Hebrew 
and  Greek,  and  in  the  Latin  version,  without 
translating  them,  but  only  putting  them  into  En- 
glish letters  ;  such  as  jpai'asceve,  the  preparation ; 
holocausta^  whole  burnt-offering ;  simulacrum,  an 
image  ;  po?itifex,  chief  priest ;  idiota,  unlearned 
or  ignorant  man ;  &c.  Had  this  notable  scheme 
succeeded,  the  English  Bible  would  have  still 
been  in  great  measure  in  an  unknown  tongue  to 
the  people — -just  the  very  thing  which  the  papists 
wished  then,  just  what  they  wish  now,  because 
it  is  next  to  impossible  where  the  Bible  is  allowed 
to  be  read  freely,  in  the  language  understood  by 
all,  to  blind  the  eyes  and  sear  the  consciences  of 
Christians,  so  as  to  make  them  believe  and  trust 
in  the  lying  abominations  of  Romish  corruption. 
Happily  Cranmer  succeeded  in  defeating  this 
scheme,  and  the  revision  of  the  Bible  was  ordered 
to  be  committed  to  the  universities  ;  thus,  in  the 
language  of  quaint  old  Thomas  Fuller,  the  Church 
historian,  "  saving  it  from  the  policy  of  Gardiner, 
who,  being  unable  to  extinguish  the  light,  was 
for  putting  it  into  a  dark  lantern." 

The  late   queen,   Catharine  Howard,  having 
been  beheaded  on  account  of  criminal  lewdness 
and  licentious  conduct  previously  to  her  elevation 
5 


82  REFORMATION  IN  ENGLAND. 

to  the  throne,  Henry,  in  1543,  was  again  married 
to  Catharine  Parr,  a  lady  whose  principles  were 
settled  and  decidedly  in  favor  of  the  Reformation. 
In  every  way  possible,  sometimes  even  to  the 
risk  of  her  life,  through  the  jealous  vanity  and 
wrong-headedness  of  the  king,  she  favored  the 
views  and  helped  forward  the  plans  of  the  arch- 
bishop. But  as  the  king  was  now  easily  wrought 
upon  to  do  evil,  it  was  not  difficult  to  find  a 
victim  for  his  cruelty.  A  young,  talented  and 
beautiful  lady,  by  name,  Anne  Askew,  and  much 
in  the  queen's  favor,  was  easily  entangled  in  the 
meshes  of  the  net  which  Gardiner  and  his  accom- 
phces  cast  for  heretical  denial  of  tr  an  substantia- 
tion. She  was  tried  and  convicted,  as  a  matter 
of  course,  since  there  was  no  way  of  escape  on 
such  a  question.  She  was  not  immediately  ex- 
ecuted, but,  after  a  short  respite,  was  again 
apprehended,  and  again  went  through  the  ordeal 
of  hard  words  and  papistical  abuse.  Her  appeal 
to  the  king  is  affecting  and  well  worth  perusal : — 
"  I,  Anne  Askew,  of  good  memory,  aldiough 
God  hath  given  me  the  bread  of  adversity  and 
the  water  of  trouble,  yet  not  so  much  as  my  sins 
have  deserved,  desire  this  to  be  known  unto 
your  Grace,  that  forasmuch  as  I  am  by  the  law 
condemned  for  an  evil  doer,  here  I  take  heaven 


ANNE    ASKEW.  83 

and  earth  to  record,  that  I  shall  die  in  my  inno- 
cency.  And,  according  to  that  I  have  said  first, 
and  will  say  last,  I  utterly  abhor  and  detest  all 
heresies.  And,  as  concerning  the  Supper  of  the 
Lord,  I  believe  so  much  as  Christ  has  said 
therein,  which  He  confirmed  with  His  most 
blessed  blood.  I  believe  so  much  as  He  willed 
me  to  follow,  and  so  much  as  the  Catholic  Church 
of  Him  doth  teach ;  for  I  will  not  forsake  the 
commandment  of  His  holy  life.  But  look,  what 
God  hath  charged  me  with  His  mouth,  that  have 
I  shut  up  in  my  heart.  And  thus  briefly  I  end 
for  lack  of  learning." 

Had  not  Henry's  heart  been  steeled  against 
compassion,  he  could  not  have  resisted  this  ap- 
peal ;  but  he  yielded  not ;  and  the  noble  lady 
having  been  ignominiously  racked  by  no  less 
persons  than  Chancellor  Wriothesly  and  lord 
Rich,  who,  with  their  own  hands,  performed  this 
devilish  office,  was  brought  out  to  die  a  martyr's 
death.  Bravely  did  she  sustain  the  trial ;  cheer- 
fully and  full  of  hope  did  she  endure  the  flames 
and  pass  to  her  eternal  award. 

Several  attempts  were  made  to  entrap  the 
queen,  and  the  archbishop ;  but  providentially 
they  were  defeated,  and  Cranmer  still  continued 
his  unremitting  labors  in  the  good  cause.    Various 


84  REFORMATION  IN  ENGLAND. 

superstitious  practices  in  force  at  this  period 
were  corrected  by  him  in  a  visitation  held  in  the 
autumn  of  1543,  such,  for  instance,  as  bell-ringing 
and  sprinkling  holy  water  to  still  the  thunder 
and  drive  away  the  devil ;  using  holy  candles 
and  incantations,  and  pouring  red  hot  coals  on 
the  grave  of  the  archbishop's  chaplain,  to  show 
what  he  deserved  for  favoring  the  Reformation, 
&c.  About  the  same  time  the  capricious  king, 
who  was  now  guided  more  by  circumstances  and 
passion  than  anything  else,  forbade  under  heavy 
penalties  the  reading  of  the  Scriptures,  except  by 
persons  of  a  certain  rank  :  3'et  it  is  remarkable, 
and  seems  clearty  to  point  out  the  hand  of  divine 
Providence,  that  Henry  would  listen  to  no  charges 
against  Cranmer,  who  was  constantly  attacked 
by  the  papal  party,  and  could  easily  have  been 
convicted  under  the  act  of  the  Six  Articles.  Even 
those  who  were  under  deep  obligations  to  the 
archbishop  were  concerned  in  these  plots,  but 
they  were  freel}^  forgiven  by  him — so  freely  and 
so  fully  that  it  became  a  common  saying,  that 
*'  if  you  do  my  lord  of  Canterbur}^  an  ill  turn 
you  make  him  your  friend  for  life." 

In  the  midst  of  these  many  and  sore  trials, 
the  untiring  archbishop  toiled  on.  His  hands 
were  somewhat  strengthened  by  the  advancement 


LITANY king's    PRIMER.  85 

of  several  of  the  Reformers  to  the  bench,  and  he 
drew  up  this  year  (1544)  a  Litany  in  EngHsh, 
with  suffrages  or  responses,  corresponding  almost 
entirely  with  that  contained  in  our  Prayer  Book ; 
the  invocation  of  saints  and  angels,  however, 
was  retained,  and  a  clause  for  deliverance  "  from 
the  bishop  of  Rome  and  all  his  detestable  enor- 
mities." To  this  work,  psalms  and  private  de- 
votions were  added,  and  in  the  preface  the  utility 
of  private  prayer  in  the  mother  tongue  is  strongly 
insisted  on.  In  the  following  year  a  collection 
of  prayers  was  published,  which  were  drawn  up 
by  the  queen  herself.  Cranmer  also  succeeded 
in  gaining  the  king's  consent  for  the  suppression 
of  all  images  in  the  churches,  and  for  prohibiting 
the  superstitious  practice  of  veiling  the  cross  in 
Lent,  and  kneeling  and  creeping  to  the  same. 
He  also  published  the  King's  Primer  in  English, 
with  some  Psalms  and  Lessons  out  of  the  New 
Testament,  which  gave  great  offence  to  the  pa- 
pists, and  they  publicly  burned  the  book. 

The  remainder  of  Henry's  reign  presents  little 
that  need  be  dwelt  upon.  The  cause  of  truth  al- 
ternately favored  and  oppressed,  was,  on  the 
whole,  progressive  ;  though  in  its  course  it  was 
marred  and  hindered  Ij-y  weakness,  w^ickedness, 
folly,  fanaticism  and  deadly  opposition.     Martyrs 


86  REFORMATION  IN  ENGLAND. 

were  brought  to  the  stake  for  opinions  the  most 
various  and  contradictory  ;  fanatics  traversed  the 
country,  exciting  to  sedition  and  wild  lawlessness 
of  sentiment  and  practice  ;  there  were  Predesti- 
narians,  Antinomians,  Anabaptists,  Fifth-monar- 
chy men,  Arians,  Davidians,  Libertines,  and  ma- 
nifold others ;  irreverence  and  shocking  levity 
prevailed  more  or  less ;  churches  and  religious 
houses  were  profaned  by  dogs,  horses  and  other 
creatures,  and  plundered  without  scruple ;  igno- 
rant teachers,  blind  leaders  of  the  blind,  only 
excited  contempt  and  scorn  ;  and  alehouses  were 
filled  with  conceited  disputants  who,  over  their 
cups,  talked  of  the  mysteries  of  faith  and  the 
deep  things  of  God  with  shameless  audacity,  and 
dissolute  scoffers  made  songs  upon  these  sacred 
subjects. 

Such  were  some  of  the  excesses,  the  deplora- 
ble excesses  arising  from  the  overturning  of  the 
old  system  of  corruption  which  had  disgraced  the 
world  for  centuries  :  yet  still  we  say,  the  cause  of 
truth  was  making  advances  slowly  and  painfully, 
yet  certainly.  Not  only  had  the  papal  supremacy 
been  destroyed,  and  many  of  the  abominations  of 
popery  put  down  by  the  civil  authority  ;  but,  what 
was  better,  the  Scriotures  of  truth  had  been  laid 
open  ;  the  Bible  and  the  three  Creeds  had  been 


THINGS    YET    TO    BE    DONE.  87 

declared  to  be  the  rule  of  faith  ;  copies  of  it  were 
in  circulation  throughout  the  kingdom  ;  the  litany 
was  published  ;  a  portion  of  Holy  Writ  was  read 
in  divine  service  ;  the  children  were  to  be  in- 
structed in  every  parish  in  the  Creed,  the  Lord's 
Prayer,  and  the  Ten  Commandments,  and  men 
were  beginning  to  look  at  truth  through  the  me- 
dium of  Gospel  light  and  to  embrace  it  for  its  own 
sake,  even  though  it  led  to  the  gibbet  or  the  stake. 
All  this  was  much  gained,  it  must  be  confessed, 
though  much,  very  much  remained  to  be  done 
before  the  Church  could  put  on  the  garments  of 
rejoicing,  or  the  truth  of  God  shine  forth  with  un- 
clouded lustre.  The  act  of  the  Six  Articles  was 
still  in  force ;  auricular  confession  was  still  bound 
upon  the  consciences  of  the  people;  transubstan- 
tiation  was  still  the  doctrine  of  the  standards  of 
the  Church  ;  the  mass,  or  public  service,  was  still 
mostly  in  Latin  ;  the  celibacy  of  the  clergy  was 
still  enforced  ;  the  cup  was  still  denied  to  the  lai- 
ty, and  the  power  of  the  ecclesiastical  courts  was 
still  continued  in  all  its  oppressiveness  and  bigot- 
ry ;  nevertheless  the  way  was  opening  by  which 
these  burdens  and  evils  and  errors  could  be  re- 
moved ;  the  leaven  of  truth  was  working  power- 
fully, and  ere  long  its  effects  were  gloriously  to 
be  manifested. 


88  REFORMATION  IN  ENGLAND. 

Henry  VIII.  died  January  27th,  1547,  after  a 
reign  of  about  thirty-seven  years.  Possessed  of 
good  abihties  and  well  read  for  the  time  in  which 
he  lived,  and  naturally  of  noble  and  generous 
dispositions,  he  became  through  evil  influences 
and  unbridled  indulgence,  a  self-willed  and 
haughty  tyrant,  a  licentious  king,  a  cruel  and 
hard-hearted  man.  He  put  no  restraint  upon  his 
passions ;  he  was  fickle,  capricious,  vain,  over- 
bearing, and  ungrateful ;  and  so  determined  was 
he  when  his  heart  was  set  upon  an  object,  that 
neither  heaven  nor  hell  were  sufficient  to  turn  him 
from  his  purpose.  We  can  have  no  sympathy 
with  him  as  a  man,  we  detest  him  as  a  tyrant,  and 
we  utterly  abhor  his  licentious  despotism. 

Still,  let  it  be  observed  how  God  brings  about 
the  accomplishment  of  His  purposes,  even  by  the 
agency  of  such  instruments  as  Henry  VIII.  A 
king  less  unscrupulous  and  more  honorable  never 
would  have  forced  a  divorce  from  so  patient  and 
sorrowing  a  wife  as  Katharine  of  Arragon,  yet 
the  consequence  of  this  was  the  ruin  of  the  pope's 
supremacy  ;*  a  king  more  upright  and  less  grasp- 

*  This  (his  supremacy  in  Cliurch  as  well  as  state,)  was,  in  fact, 
Henry's  own  most  passionate  desire.  It  was  well  that  it  was  so,  or 
Protestantism  might  never  have  been  established  as  it  was  in  his 
great  daughter's  reign.     He  had  himself  no  regard  for  the  tnith  in 


HENRY  S  DEATH  AND  CHARACTER.     89 

ing  after  money,  not  for  money's  sake,  but  to  gra- 
tify his  lusts  and  passions,  never  would  have  ven- 
tured to  crush  the  monastic  establishments,  the 
bulwarks  of  popery  and  the  grand  engines  of  its 
power  and  credit  among  the  people.    These  things 

anything  he  did.  The  Gospel  light  as  little  beamed  on  him  from 
Boleyn's  laughing  eyes,  when  she  was  about  to  mount  his  bed,  as 
from  her  serene  and  patient  look  when  she  was  about  to  mount  his 
scaffold.  The  Gospel  light  has  nothing  to  do  with  lust,  has  no  sym- 
pathy for  satisfied  cruelty,  takes  no  regard  of  personal  interests, 
sheds  no  virtue  upon  ambitious  passions,  and  could  find  in  the  whole 
huge  bulk  of  Henry  not  a  crevice  or  a  corner  into  which  it  might 
cast  even  one  of  its  diviner  rays.  Yet  who,  save  Henry,  could  have 
done  what  the  time  cried  out  for  ?  What,  save  his  reckless  bru- 
tality could  have  discharged  that  painful  but  imperative  work? 
Who  could  have  so  thrust  down  the  monasteries  and  hunted  out  the 
priests?  Who  would  have  dared,  save  he,  to  cram  his  own  exche- 
quer with  their  enormous  revenues?  Above  all,  what  prince  or 
priest,  acting  sincerely  as  a  reformer  of  the  faith  and  a  champion 
of  Luther's  doctrines,  could  have  done  what  was  so  absolutely 
needful  al  the  first  flinging  down  of  the  national  allegiance  to 
Rome  ;  could  have  kept  in  resolute  check  both  Protestant  and  (Ro- 
man) Catholic  ;  could  have  persecuted  with  an  equal  hand  the 
Romanist  and  the  Lutheran  ;  could  have  passed  as  "an  adherent  to 
Catholic  doctrines,  while  he  spurned  the  papal  authority,  and  have 
loudly  declared  his  passion  for  transubstantiation,  while  he  still  more 
loudly  shouted  forth  his  abhorrence  of  submission  to  a  court  at  Rome  I 
Be  it  assuredly  believed,  that  all  was  more  wisely  ordered  than  the 
mere  wisdom  of  ordinary  policy  could  presume  to  have  foreseen. 
Tiiis  broad  and  vicious  body  of  Henry  the  Eighth  was  as  the  bridge 
between  the  old  and  the  new  religions. — Foster's  Introduction  to 
The  Statesmen  of  the  Commonwealth  of  England,  p.  xix. 
5*  •' 


90  REFORMATION  IN  ENGLAND. 

Henry  did,  and  we  are  reaping  the  advantages 
of  what  was  then  begun.  Let  us  bless  God  for 
the  merciful  deliverance  from  popish  chains  of 
darkness  and  superstition,  even  though  it  was 
done  by  such  an  instrument ;  and  as  we  think  of 
the  trials  of  fire  and  blood  through  which  our  fa- 
thers passed,  let  us  resolve  to  hold  fast  to  the  truth 
in  its  integrity,  and  rather  die  than  betray  the  in- 
terests of  Christ  and  His  Church. 


CHAPTER  IV. 


A.  D.  1547— 1549. 

Edward  VI.— his  high  and  noble  character— Cranmer's  position  and 
wishes — Edward  Seymour,  lord  protector— his  character — spoli- 
ations of  church  property — evils  of  rash  zeal — images  destroyed 
in  churches — general  visitation — necessity  of  it — First  Book  of 
HomiUes— Gardiner  and  Bonner  in  trouble— act  for  communion 
in  both  kinds— Six  Article  act  repealed— chantries,  chapels,  &.C., 
given  to  royal  treasury — miages  ordered  to  be  entirely  removed — 
revision  of  the  liturgy— proceedings  of  the  committee— Cranmer's 
catechism— First  Book  of  king  Edward  VI.— how  it  differs  from 
the  present  Book  of  Common  Prayer— its  value  not  to  be 
denied. 

Edward  VI.,  at  the  time  of  his  ascending  the 
throne,  was  in  his  tenth  year,  a  fair  and  lovely 
boy,  giving  promise  of  great  and  good  thmgs. 
Naturally  amiable  and  kind,  and  through  his  mo- 
ther, connected  with  a  family  devoted  to  reform 


92  REFORMATION  IN  ENGLAND. 

in  the  Church,  he  was  so  blessed  as  to  be  placed 
under  most  excellent  instructors,  who  fostered 
every  thing  good  in  him,  who  poured  into  his  mind 
every  thing  ennobling  and  elevating,  and  who,  at 
last,  so  trained  him  up  in  learning  and  godliness, 
that  he  w^as  the  wonder  of  his  day  for  mental  and 
spiritual  culture,  and  has  come  down  to  us  with 
his  fair  name  unstained  by  aught  of  folly  or 
crime.*  But  his  was  no  crown  of  ease  :  the  in- 
heritance left  to  him  was  attended  with  cares  and 
anxieties,  well  nigh  too  heavy  for  the  young  king 
to  bear  :  the  prospect  before  him  was  marked  by 
hard  and  bitter  contentions,  by  the  wrangling  of 
parties,   by  the  suffering  of  the   Church,  by  the 


*  Cardan,  a  distinguished  Italian  philosopher,  wlio  was  in  Eng- 
land at  this  time,  saw  and  conversed  with  Edward,  and  after  that 
prince's  deatli,  wrote  thus  of  him : — "  All  the  graces  were  in  him  : 
he  had  many  tongues  when  he  was  yet  but  a  child  :  together  with 
the  English,  his  natural  tongue,  he  had  both  Latin  and  French,  nor 
was  ho  ignorant,  as  I  hear,  of  the  Greek,  Italian  and  Spanish,  and 
perhaps  some  more  :  but  for  the  English,  French  and  Latin,  he  was 
exact  in  them,  and  was  apt  to  learn  every  thing :  nor  was  he  igno- 
rant of  logic,  of  the  principles  of  natural  philosophy,  nor  of  music. 
The  sweetness  of  his  temper  was  such  as  became  a  mortal — his 
gravity  becoming  the  majesty  of  a  king,  and  his  disposition  was 
suitable  to  his  high  degree.  In  sum,  that  child  was  so  bred,  had 
such  parts,  and  was  of  such  expectation,  that  he  looked  like  a 
miracle  of  a  man.  These  things  are  not  spoken  rhetorically  and 
beyond  the  truth,  but  are  indeed  short  of  it." 


EDWARD  S    CHARACTER.  93 

Struggles  of  the  truth  against  opposing  error. 
Nevertheless,  he  neither  wished,  nor  was  able, 
had  he  wished,  to  draw  back;  and  from  all  the 
evidences  which  are  left  to  us,  we  find  that  Ed- 
ward was  fittinghimself  for  the  heavy  duties  and 
responsibilities  of  king  of  England,  by  a  course 
of  discipline  of  mind  and  heart,  which,  had  it 
pleased  God  to  lengthen  his  life,  would  doubtless 
have  led  to  the  happiest  results. 

The  young  king  was  proclaimed  January  31st, 
1547,  four  da3^s  after  his  father's  death.  By 
Henry's  will,  archbishop  Cranmer  was  appointed 
to  a  prominent  station  in  the  council  of  direction 
during  the  minority  of  the  king :  but  as  well  from 
choice  as  from  a  desire  to  look  to  the  affairs  of  the 
Church,  at  this  period  in  no  little  danger,  he  took 
but  small  share  in  mere  matters  of  state.  His 
great  aim  and  object  was,  now  that  every  thing 
was  so  favorable  for  carrying  out  the  principles  of 
the  Reformation,  to  proceed  temperately  yet  vi- 
gorously in  ridding  the  Church  of  errors  and  cor- 
ruptions which  still  marred  its  beauty  and  fair 
proportions,  and  in  setting  forth  the  truth  of  God 
in  all  its  purity  and  integrity.  In  consequence  of 
this  disposition  on  the  part  of  the  archbishop,  he 
was  led  to  the  more  thorouQ:h  examination  of  se- 
veral  points  in  dispute  between  the  Reformers  and 


94  REFORMATION  IN  ENGLAND. 

papists,  and  we  find,  that  subsequently  to  the  last 
year  of  Henry's  reign,  he  steadily  maintained  the 
doctrines  which  the  Church  of  England  has  ever 
since  held,  particularly  with  respect  to  the  sacra- 
ment of  the  Lord's  Supper.  Ridley  and  Lati- 
mer had  previously  renounced transubstantiation, 
and  from  this  date  these  noble  men  and  servants 
of  the  Most  High  labored,  with  most  entire  una- 
nimity, in  the  cause  of  their  Divine  Master. 

The  council  very  early  appointed  Edward  Sey- 
mour, the  earl  of  Hertford,  governor  of  the  king's 
person  and  Lord  Protector;  he  was  also  created 
duke  of  Somerset.  Being  the  maternal  uncle  of 
Edward,  and  a  warm  friend  to  the  Reformation, 
he  was  enabled  to  be  of  essential  service  to  the 
cause  of  truth,  and  we  find  that  he  joined  heart 
and  hand  with  Cranmer  in  the  work  of  reform, 
and  restoration  of  primitive  soundness  and  order. 
It  is  not  to  be  concealed,  however,  that  Somerset 
was  one  of  the  largest  sharers  in  the  spoil  of 
Church  property,  and  that  he  did  not  scruple  to 
join  with  the  ungodly  and  the  profane  in  taking 
that  to  which  he  certainly  had  no  just  claim ; 
all  this,  too,  despite  the  earnest  and  indignant  re- 
monstrances and  entreaties  of  the  Reformers. 
But,  in  truth,  this  was  the  course  pursued  by  all 
who  could  in  any  way  get  hold  of  ecclesiastical 


CHURCH    SPOLIATION.  95 

revenues  :  every  one  plundered  the  Church  with 
impunity  ;  from  the  king  and  parhament  down  to 
the  meanest  servant  of  some  lucky  courtier,  there 
was  a  longing  desire  after  the  untold  wealth  of 
monasteries,  bishoprics,  deaneries,  prebends, 
chantries,  &c.,*  and  it  was  thought  a  hard  case 
for  those  about  court,  if  they  could  not  lay  hands 
on  that  which  had  been  left,  with  an  awful  impre- 
cation against  its  spoilers,  for  the  cause  of  religion 
and  the  maintenance  of  the  clergy.  Sad  are  we 
to  say  it,  but  the  Church  of  England  has  never 
fully  recovered  from  the  injuries  then  inflicted 
upon  her. 

In  a  previous  chapter  we  have  spoken  of  the 
violent  reaction  which  took  place  when  popery 
was  suddenly  broken  up,  and  men's  minds  were 
set  loose  from  the  thraldom  in  which  they  had  so 
long  been  held,  and  of  the  excesses,  the  disgrace- 
ful excesses,  which  had  taken  place  in  conse- 
quence.     Hardly   had   this    reign    commenced, 

*  Bp.  Burnet  says,  that  it  was  ordinary  at  that  time,  for  laymen 
to  hold  preferments  without  cure  of  souls.  Protector  Somerset  had 
six  good  prebends  promised  him,  two  of  these  being  afterwards  con- 
verted into  a  deanery  and  treasurership.  Lord  Cromwell  had  been 
dean  of  Wells,  Sir  Thomas  Smith,  who  was  in  deacon's  orders, 
though  living  a§  a  layman,  was  dean  of  Carlisle.  Numerous  other 
instances  of  this  scandalous  irreverence  and  church  spoliation  might 
be  enumerated. 


96  REFORMATION  IN  ENGLAND. 

when  the  evil  effects  of  rash  zeal  began  again  to 
be  manifest.  Many  persons,  enemies  of  the  old 
superstition,  without  waiting  for  authority,  and 
knowing  that  images  were  condemned  by  the 
Reformers,  thought  that  they  were  doing  good 
service  by  tumultuously  proceeding  to  destroy 
them  in  the  churches  in  London,  and  elsewhere. 
This  they  did,  to  a  large  extent,  until  severe 
measures  were  resorted  to  for  stopping  their 
lawless  doings.  But  not  only  in  respect  to  the 
pulling  down  of  images  and  defacing  shrines, 
and  making  havoc  of  the  ornaments  in  churches, 
but  also  in  various  other  things,  the  same  spirit 
of  rashness  and  hot  haste,  gave  rise  to  much 
trouble  and  discord ;  so  that,  Cranmer  and  his 
associates  were,  at  times,  in  as  much  danger  of 
making  shipwreck  through  the  injudicious  zeal  of 
hasty  and  thoughtless  allies,  as  through  the  open 
and  violent  opposition  of  the  favorers  of  Rome. 
This  will  be  exemplified  as  we  go  on. 

One  of  the  earliest  steps  taken  by  Cranmer  for 
the  good  of  the  Church,  was  the  obtaining  a 
general  visitation  throughout  the  realm,  for  the 
purpose  of  regulating  all  such  matters  as  required 
notice  and  change.  This  was  especially  neces- 
sary, because  of  the  fact,  that  the  clergy,  as  a 
body,  were  uneducated,  and  much  disposed  to 


EVILS    TO    BE    REMEDIED.  97 

retain  the  superstitions  and  corruptions  of  Rome ; 
so  that  the  truth  was  hindered  in  its  onward 
progress  by  the  want  of  learned,  faithful  and 
active  parish  priests,  who  should  not  only  have 
knowledge    sufficient,  but  should   be   able   and 
wilUng  to  communicate  it  by  preaching  to  the 
people.    Nor  only  so;  the  people  themselves,  too 
generally  grossly  ignorant,   and  both  by  habit 
and  long  standing  custom,  attached  to  the  notions 
and  practices  in  vogue  for  hundreds  of  years 
past,  were  far  from  being  as  ready  to  embrace 
the  doctrines  of  the  Gospel  in  their  purity  and 
simphcity,  as  might,  at  first  sight,  be  imagined  ; 
and  as,  when  the  monasteries  were  broken  up, 
many  hundreds  of  monks  were  scattered  over 
the  country  in  all  directions,   these  teachers  of 
popery  kept  ahve  the  flame,  stirred  up  dissatis- 
faction, and  wherever  possible,  filled  the  vacan- 
cies in  the  poorer  parishes,  it  is  manifest  that  the 
Reformation  was  greatly  impeded,  and  its  real 
object  shamefully  spoken  against. 

The  archbishop  and  his  assistants  in  the  great 
work,  were  desirous,  as  far  as  possible,  to  remedy 
these  serious  evils,  and  to  draw  away  the  minds 
of  the  people  from  the  bad  influence  of  papistical 
instructors.  For  this  purpose,  the  First  Book  of 
Homilies  was  composed,  and  published  in  July, 


98  REFORMATION  IN  ENGLAND. 

of  the  present  year,  (1547)  and  Erasmus's  Para- 
phrase of  the  New  Testament  was  ordered  to 
be  set  up  m  every  parish  church,  in  order  to 
assist  the  unlearned  in  understanding  Holy  Scrip- 
ture. The  bishops  also  were  enjoined  not  only 
to  preach  themselves,  but  to  take  care  that  their 
chaplains  did  so,  and  to  admit  none  to  holy 
orders  who  were  not  well  qualified  for  the  sacred 
office,  especially  in  that  point  then  so  needful, 
viz.  abihty  to  preach  and  maintain  the  doctrines 
of  the  Reformation.  The  Homilies,  it  may  here 
be  observed,  were  probably  in  great  part  com- 
posed by  Cranmer,  with  the  aid  of  Ridley, 
Latimer,  Becon,  and  others,  and  while  there 
was  so  great  scarcity  of  persons  able  to  preach 
the  reformed  faith,  that  the  people,  nevertheless, 
should  not  suffer,  these  excellent  and  timely  dis- 
courses were  commanded  to  be  read  in  the 
churches.  Several  other  wholesome  regulations 
were  likewise  enjoined. 

The  political  successes  of  the  protector  and 
his  party  gave  them  additional  weight  in  the 
community,  and  enabled  them  to  push  forward 
vigorously  the  measures  of  reform.  Not  a  little 
opposition,  however,  was  excited  among  the  op- 
ponents of  Cranmer  and  the  steps  he  judged 
needful  to  the  cause  of  God's  truth.     Both  Gar- 


ACTS    OF    CONVOCATION.  99 

diner,  bishop  of  Winchester,  of  whose  character 
and  principles  we  have  spoken  freely  already, 
and  Bonner,  bishop  of  London,  well  known  to 
posterity  by  his  horrid  cruelty  in  the  reign  of 
Mary  and  his  shameless  tergiversations,  objected 
to  the  introduction  of  the  Homilies  and  the  Para- 
phrase. As  their  opposition  went  to  considerable 
length,  they  were  sent  to  prison  on  the  charge  of 
disobedience  to  the  ro3^al  injunctions.  It  is  sup- 
posed, and  with  reason  we  think,  that  they  were 
treated  with  uncalled  for  severity. 

Parliament  met  in  November ;  at  the  same 
time  the  convocation  assembled,  and  by  direction 
of  Cranmer,  w^ho  was  extremely  active  and  zeal- 
ous, entered  heartily  upon  the  consideration  of 
the  affairs  of  the  Church.  An.  ordinance  "for 
the  receiving  the  body  of  our  Lord  under  both 
kinds,  namely,  of  bread  and  wine,"  was  unani- 
mously adopted  by  this  body,  and  soon  after  was 
sanctioned  by  parliament.  By  this  statute,  the 
abuses  of  communion  in  one  kind,  and  of  solitary 
masses,  were  put  a  stop  to,  a  matter  of  very 
great  importance,  as  it  deprived  the  priest  of  the 
tremendous  power  which  he  exercised,  under  the 
papal  system,  and  rendered  the  people  more 
alive  to  their  personal  concern  in  the  sacraments 
and  services  of  the  Church.    It  also  provided  that 


100  REFORMATION    IN    ENGLAND. 

persons  who  spoke  irreverently  or  contemptously 
of  the  blessed  Eucharist,  should  be  punished  by 
fine  and  imprisonment,  at  the  pleasure  of  the 
king :  this  step  was  taken  in  consequence  of  the 
licentiousness  of  speech  every  where  prevalent, 
since  men  were  rid  of  the  terror  of  papal  infalli- 
bility, and  thought  that  there  was  no  longer  any 
thing  sacred  or  solemn  in  religion. 

The  repeal  of  the  act  of  the  Six  Articles,  that 
whip  of  scorpions,  as  it  has  been  termed,  was 
among  the  first  things  done  by  this  parliament ; 
and  they  did  not  stop  here ;  but  went  on  to  repeal 
all  the   penal   acts   relating   to    "  doctrine   and 
matters  of  religion,"    which  had  rendered  the 
latter  portion  of  Henry's  reign  so  full  of  persecu- 
tion and  bloodshed.     These  wise  and  judicious 
measures  were  very  seasonable  helps  to  the  arch- 
bishop and  his  co-workers,  and  encouraged  them 
to  go  on  in  the  accomplishment  of  their  momen- 
tous   labors.      Parliament   also    passed    an    act 
giving  to  the  king  chantries,   free  chapels,   col- 
leges, and  whatever  other  Church  property  had 
escaped   the  grasping  rapacity  of  Henry  VIU. 
and  his  greedy  court.     Cranmer  vigorously  op- 
posed this  iniquitous  measure,  but  all  in  vain. 
The  men  of  that  day,  with  hardly  an  exception, 
seemed  to  be  wholly  reckless  as  to  the  wants  of 


BOOK  OF  COMMON  PRAYER.        101 

the  Church,  and  the  absolute  need  of  temporal 
provision  for  the  support  of  a  learned  and  ef- 
ficient body  of  clergy. 

The  year  1548  opened  with  several  very  im- 
portant movements  towards  the  reformation  of 
religious  matters.  An  order  in  council  was  issued 
for  the  entire  removal  of  images  and  shrines  from 
the  chui'ches,  and  for  the  suppression  of  many 
superstitious  ceremonies  ;  and  the  clergy  were 
required  to  preach  against  pilgrimages  and  image 
worship.  At  the  same  time  severe  penalties 
were  threatened  against  all  such  as  abused  or 
treated  improperly  the  houses  of  God,  which, 
we  are  grieved  to  say,  had  been  disgraced  on 
various  occasions  by  scenes  of  riot  and  confusion; 
and  none  were  allowed  to  make  rash  innovations, 
and  interfere  with  such  things  as  were  still 
accordins:  to  the  laws  of  the  realm. 

In  February,  a  committee  was  appointed  for 
the  purpose  of  revising  the  Liturgy,  and  arranging 
in  some  uniform  system  the  public  worship  and 
services  of  the  Church;  a  step  which  calls  for 
especial  notice  on  our  part,  because  it  was  the 
beginning  of  Aat  great  work  which  resulted 
finally  in  the  compilation  of  the  Book  of  Common 
Prayer.  The  committee  began  with  that  which 
was  the   most  urgent,  viz.,  the  service   for  the 


102  REFORMATION  IN  ENGLAND. 

Communion,  in  which  alteration  was  greatly 
needed  because  of  the  clearer  and  more  correct 
views  which  the  Reformers  had  begun  to  enter- 
tain since  they  doubted  and  denied  the  truth  of 
transubstantiation.  Questions,  to  the  number  of 
ten,  were  proposed  and  answers  in  writing  re- 
quired :  these  may  be  seen  in  bishop  Burnet's 
large  History  of  the  Reformation,  and  are  not 
only  interesting  in  themselves,  but  will  manifest 
the  great  care  which  was  taken  in  all  that  w^as 
done  by  the  bishops  and  doctors  of  the  Church, 
for  the  restoration  of  purity  and  order. 

On  the  eighth  of  March,  the  Communion  Office 
was  published :  in  substance  it  is  nearly  the  same 
as  that  in  the  Prayer  Book  of  the  Protestant 
Episcopal  Church.  Cranmer  seems  to  have  gone 
on  the  principle  of  making  as  few  changes  as 
possible,  retaining  whatever  was  innocent  in  the 
service  of  the  mass,  and  leaving  some  portions  of 
it  untranslated  from  the  original  Latin. 

Not  long  after,  the  archbishop  set  forth  a 
*'  Catechism,  or  Short  Instruction  into  Christian 
Religion,  for  the  singular  commodity  and  profit 
of  Children  and  Young  People,"  which  is  usually 
known  by  the  name  of  Cranmer'' s  Catechism.  It 
was  translated  from  the  Latin  version  of  a  Ger- 
man catechism  by  Justus  Jonas,  used  at  Nurem- 


cranmer's  catechism.  103 

berg,  and  consists  of  expositions  of  the  Ten 
Commandments,  the  Creed,  the  Lord's  Prayer, 
the  Authority  of  the  Keys,  and  the  Lord's  Sup- 
per. It  is  hardly  so  clear  in  its  statements  of 
the  truth  as  might  be  expected,  for  even  as  yet 
the  archbishop  seems  to  have  retained,  in  words 
at  least,  a  respect  for  some  of  the  popish  errors 
and  perversions :  still,  as  he  was  not  the  author 
of  this  Catechism,  but  simply  the  translator,  it  is 
not  quite  fair  to  charge  upon  him  the  errors  of 
the  original.  This  Catechism,  however,  ere 
long,  gave  place  to  one  of  English  origin,  which 
is  the  admirable  one  now  in  the  Book  of  Common 
Prayer,  except  that  part  which  relates  to  the 
sacraments,  which  was  added  in  the  time  of 
James  I. 

The  commission  who  had  in  charge  the  ar- 
rangement of  the  public  services  of  the  Church, 
met  at  Windsor,  May  8th,  and  proceeded  zeal- 
ously and  faithfully  to  perform  the  duty  assigned 
them.  They  examined  the  Breviaries,  Missals 
and  Rituals,  together  with  other  books  and  offices 
at  that  time  in  use.  These  they  compared  with 
the  ancient  Galhcan,  Spanish,  Alexandrian  and 
Oriental  hturgies,  and  the  writings  of  the  early 
fathers.  Whatever  they  found  to  agree  with  the 
doctrine  of  Holy  Scripture   and  the  worship  of 


104  REFORMATION  IN  ENGLAND. 

the  primitive  Church,  they  generally  retained. 
But  they  rejected  the  numerous  palpable  corrup- 
tions and  superstitious  innovations  which  had 
been  gradually  brought  in  during  the  middle 
ages. 

By  the  end  of  November  the  whole  was  finish- 
ed, and  met  the  cordial  approval  of  the  clergy  of 
the  provinces  of  Canterbury  and  York.  It  re- 
ceived the  sanction  of  the  king  and  both  houses 
of  Parliament,  January  15th,  1549  ;  and  it  was 
enacted,  "  that  the  said  form  of  Common  Prayer, 
and  no  other,  should,  after  the  Feast  of  Pentecost 
next  following,  be  used  in  all  his  majesty's  do- 
minions." 

Our  readers  will  take  notice,  that  this  is  what 
is  called  the  First  Boole  of  Edward  VI.  It  differs 
in  several  respects  from  the  Prayer  Book  as  fi- 
nally adopted  by  the  Church  of  England,  and 
from  the  nature  of  the  case  retains  more  of  what 
we  should  call  popish  than  at  present  would  be 
approved  of.  But  it  should  not  be  forgotten,  in 
forming  a  judgment  on  the  propriety  of  this 
course,  that  the  Reformers  deemed  their  plan  by 
far  the  most  wise  and  judicious  which  could  be 
adopted :  they  knew  that  reformation  to  be  of 
service,  must  proceed  gradually  and  deliberately : 
the  mass  of  men  are  not  suddenly  to  be  changed  ; 


FIRST    BOOK    OF    EDWARD    VI.  105 

customs  which  have  been  in  use  for  centuries, 
cannot  be  thrown  aside  all  at  once ;  and  doctrines 
which  have  been  held  and  taught  for  ages,  are 
never  immediately  given  up.  Hence,  as  we  have 
before  remarked,  Cranmer  and  his  co-workers 
proceeded  on  the  correct  principle  of  altering  as 
little  as  possible,  in  the  outward  forms  of  things, 
provided  sound  doctrine  lay  at  the  foundation ; 
so  that  the  people  might  not  needlessly  have  their 
prejudices  excited,  and  might  by  degrees  be  led 
into  clearer  light  and  knowledge  of  the  truth. 

In  this  First  Book  of  Edward  VI.,  the  morning 
and  evening  service  began  with  the  Lord's 
Pra3^er.  The  baptismal  service  contained  a  form 
of  exorcism,  in  order  to  drive  away  the  evil 
spirit  from  the  child,  who  was  annointed  and  clad 
in  a  white  garment.  In  the  burial  of  the  dead, 
there  were  prayers  for  the  person  buried  and 
for  the  dead  in  general.  When  the  sick  were 
visited,  the  sick  person  was  to  be  anointed  if  he 
desired  it,  and  to  be  signed  with  the  sign  of  the 
cross.  At  the  celebration  of  the  Lord's  Supper, 
when  the  elements  were  given,  only  the  first 
clause  of  what  is  now  in  the  Pra3^er  Book  was 
used,  viz.  : — "  The  Body  of  our  Lord  Jesus 
Christ,  which  was  given  for  thee,  preserve  thy 
body  and  soul  unto  everlasting  life ;"  "  The  Blood 
6 


IOC  REFORMATION  IN  ENGLAND. 

of  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ,,  which  was  shed  for 
thee,  preserve  thy  body  and  soul  unto  everlasting 
life."  Water  was  also  to  be  mixed  with  the  wine. 
In  several  other  respects,  though  not  of  ma- 
terial consequence,  the  First  Book  differed  from 
the  one  afterwards  adopted  by  the  Church  of 
England.  The  wonder  is  not  that  it  went  no 
further,  but  that  it  went  so  far  as  it  did  in  its 
approach  to  purity  and  truth ;  and  we  who  are 
members  of  that  Church  which  rejoices  in  a  Book 
of  Common  Prayer,  shall  be  greatly  wanting  in 
a  proper  sense  of  what  we  owe  to  those  great  and 
good  men,  if  we  do  not  entertain  and  cherish  for 
their  memory,  feelings  of  respect  and  gratitude  ; 
and  if  we  do  not  strive,  by  every  means  in  our 
power,  to  show  that  we  value  the  Prayer  Book 
as  it  ought  to  be  valued,  by  living  holy  and  con- 
sistent lives,  and  by  adorning  the  doctrine  of 
God  our  Saviour  in  all  things. 


CHAPTER    V. 


A.  D.  1549— 1551. 

Opposition  to  the  new  book — insurrections — ecclesiastical  visitation 
— transubstantiation  under  discussion — doctrine  of  the  Church  of 
England  on  the  Eucharist — public  disputations — Joan  Bocher — 
licentiousness  of  opinion  and  practice — Bonner  deprived — Ridley 
translated  to  London — Ridley's  visitation — ordination  offices — 
distinguished  foreigners — troubles  of  a  new  kind — contrast  be- 
tween English  and  continental  Reformation — Cranmer's  settled 
views  on  the  subject  of  the  ministry — forty-two  articles — thirty 
nine  adopted — not  Calvinistic — how  to  be  interpreted. 

Hardly  had  the  Book  of  Common  Prayer  been 
set  forth  by  authority,  and  enjoined  to  be  used 
in  every  church  throughout  the  realm,  when 
many  and  violent  censures  were  expressed 
against  it.  They  w^io  were  still  wedded  to  the 
Romish  system  could  ill  brook  to  have  anj^  of  the 
service  in  English  instead  of  Latin,  transubstan- 


108  REFORMATION  IN  ENGLAND, 

tiation  denied,  the  Holy  Scriptures  opened  to  the 
people,  and  such  like  things,  the  result  of  the 
labors  of  the  Reformers ;  much  less  were  they 
willing  themselves  to  use  the  newly  appointed 
book,  and  be  thereby  the  agents  of  instructing 
the  people  in  what  they  actually  hated  and  con- 
temned. It  would  not  have  mattered  greatly, 
perhaps,  had  the  opposers  of  these  needful  re- 
forms been  content  in  uttering  their  dissatisfac- 
tion in  words  merely;  but  so  far  from  this,  we 
find  that  through  the  influence  of  some  priests 
and  zealous  defenders  of  popery,  formidable 
insurrections  were  stirred  up  in  Devonshire, 
Cornwall,  and  Norfolk.  It  w^as  only  by  employ- 
ing a  large  force  and  using  severe  measures  with 
the  ringleaders,  that  these  revolts  were  crushed. 
An  ecclesiastical  visitation  was  appointed  early 
in  this  year,  (1549,)  for  the  purpose  of  suppress- 
ing many  superstitious  practices  which  still  con- 
tinued to  be  observed,  and  also  to  in(juire  into 
various  pernicious  heresies  in  order  to  have  them 
rooted  out.  The  consequence  of  all  this  was, 
the  bringing  into  discussion  one  of  the  funda- 
mental doctrines  of  popery,  and  one  which  gives 
its  priesthood  tremendous  power  and  influence 
over  the  people.  We  mean  transubstantiation, 
that  is,  the  change  of  the  elements  of  bread  and 


TRANSUBSTANTIATION.  109 

wine  into  the  actual  body  and  blood  of  the  glori- 
fied Redeemer,  so  that  what  we  see  and  taste, 
and  what  appears  to  our  senses  to  be  bread  and 
wine,  is  so  no  longer,  but  is  the  very  body  of 
Christ  our  Lord,  which  was  offered  on  the 
cross.  Now,  as  the  priest,  every  time  that  he 
pronounced  over  the  elements  the  words,  "  This 
is  my  body,"  transubstantiated  the  bread  and 
wine  into  the  body  and  blood  of  Christ  ;  and 
as  our  Master  himself  distinctly  declared,  '*  who- 
so eateth  my  flesh  and  drinketh  my  blood,  hath 
eternal  life,  and  I  will  raise  him  up  at  the  last 
day ;"  it  followed,  that  the  priest  had  it  in  his 
power  to  give  or  withhold  that  which  would 
certainly  save  a  man's  soul,  no  matter  what  his 
life  and  conduct  might  be.  It  was  hence  im- 
portant, not  only  to  obtain  uniformity  of  practice, 
not  only  to  get  the  people  accustomed  to  the 
changes  made  in  the  public  services  and  formu- 
laries, but  also  to  show  them  the  errors  of  this 
popish  dogma,  and  to  induce  them  to  adopt,  un- 
derstandingly,  the,  doctrine  of  Holy  Scripture 
and  the  primitive  Church  respecting  the  sacra- 
ment of  the  Lord's  Supper.  This  was  the  more 
important,  because  of  the  attachmentof  the  com- 
mon people  to  such  doctrines  and  practices  as 
removed  thh  responsibility  from  themselves,  and 


110  REFORMATION    IN    ENGLAND. 

enabled  them  to  trust  to  the  priest  every  thing 
which  related  to  the  interests  of  their  souls. 

We  may  here  observe,  in  passing,  that  the 
Church  of  England  and  the  Protestant  Episcopal 
Church  in  the  United  States,  repudiate  transub- 
stantiation;  neither  do  they  hold  consubstantia- 
tion,*  nor  the  opinion  of  some  modern  sects  which 
destroys  the  sacrament  entirely,  as  a  divinely 
appointed  means  of  grace.  Their  doctrine  on 
this  point  is,  that  the  bread  and  wine  are  symbols 
of  the  body  and  blood  of  Christ,  which  are 
verily  and  indeed  taken  and  received  by  the 
faithful  in  the  Lord's  Supper.  "  To  such  as 
rightly,  worthily,  and  w^ith  faith  receive  the 
same,  the  bread  which  we  break  is  a  partaking, 
of  the  body  of  Christ  ;  and  likewise  the  cup  of 
blessing  is  a  partaking  of  the  blood  of  Christ." 
(Art.  XXVIII.) 

Public  discussions  were  held  on  this  subject 
both  at  Oxford  and  Cambridge ;  and  the  arch- 
bishop wrote  a  learned  treatise  on  the  Eucharist,t 

*  Consubstantiation  is  a  dogma  of  Luther's.  He  taught  that  the 
bread  and  wine  remained,  as  our  senses  teach  us,  but  that  our 
Lord's  body  is  joined  to  the  bread,  or  is  in  and  with  the  bread  in 
some  miraculous  manner,  so  that  it  is  actually  eaten  with  the 
broad ;  a  tenet  which  seems  to  us  to  be  even  more  contradictory 
and  absurd  than  the  popish  view  of  the  sacrament. 

t  The  title  of  it  is,   "  A  Defence  of  the  True   and  Catholick 


PUBLIC    DISCUSSIONS.  Ill 

to  which  Gardiner  made  a  specious  but  weak 
reply.  Cranmer,  very  soon  after,  issued  his 
answer  to  the  "  crafty  and  sophistical  cavilla- 
tion"  of  Gardiner  and  the  puny  attacks  of  other 
popish  declaimers  :  this  effectually  settled  the 
question  so  far  as  argument  w^as  able  to  do  it.* 

The  public  disputations  just  alluded  to,  took 
place  on  the  following  heads  : — in  the  eucharist 
there  is  notransubstantiation.  In  the  bread  and 
wine  Christ  is  not  corporall}^  present.  The 
body  and  blood  of  Christ  are  united  to  the 
bread  and  wine  sacramentally.  The  moderation, 
learning  and  fairness  displayed  in  these  discus- 
sions, are  worthy  of  the  highest  praise,  and  are 
in  striking  contrast  with  the  course  pursued  by 
the  papists  in  the  reign  of  Mary. 

Doctrine  of  the  Sacrament  of  the  Body  and  Blood  of  our  Saviour 
Christ ;  with  a  Confutation  of  sundry  Errors  concerning  the  same, 
grounded  and  established  upon  God's  Holy  Word,  and  approved  by 
the  consent  of  the  most  ancient  doctors  of  the  Church.  Made  by  the 
Most  Reverend  Father  in  God,  Thomas,  Archbishop  of  Canterbury, 
Primate  of  all  England,  and  Metropolitan.     1550." 

*  This  volume  was  re-published  several  times,  and  met  with 
great  and  deservedly  great  approbation.  Archbishop  Parker  has 
said  of  it,  "  that  no  controversy  against  the  papists  was  ever  han- 
dled more  accurately  ;"  and  succeeding  writers  of  distinction  have 
bestowed  their  eulogy  upon  the  language  as  well  as  the  spirit  of  it, 
upon  its  acuteness  as  well  as  its  zeal. — Todd's  Vindication  of 
Archbishop  Cranmer,  p.  14. 


112  REFORMATION  IN  ENGLAND. 

Would  that  we  could  say  that  the  same  moder- 
ation and  justice  had  been  manifested  in  regard 
to  other  things !  A  half  crazed  and  foolish  woman, 
called  Joan  Bocher,  or  Joan  of  Kent,  having 
uttered  some  crude  and  wicked  notions  which 
she  in  ignorance  had  taken  up  respecting  our 
Lord's  incarnation,  and  which,  with  ignorant 
intolerance,  she  stubbornly  maintained,  was  sum- 
moned before  a  commission,  tried,  argued  with, 
found  obstinate,  and  in  the  course  of  the  following 
year  was  delivered  up  to  be  burnt.  The  noble 
young  king  refused  to  sign  the  warrant  for  her 
death,  and  it  was  only  at  the  earnest  entreaties 
of  Cranmer  that  he  consented ;  telling  him  with 
tears  that  he  (the  archbishop)  must  answer  for  it 
before  God.  How  painful  and  humiliating  to 
find  the  aged  servant  of  the  merciful  Redeemer 
engaged  in  so  unworthy  a  cause,  and  committing 
an  act  which  we  cannot  defend  but  must  ever 
deplore  !* 

It  is  not  to  be  denied,  however,  that  most 
abominable  licentiousness  of  opinion  and  practice 


*  In  justice  to  Cranmer,  the  intelligent  reader  will  observe,  that 
the  archbishop  was  not  alone  in  thinking,  that  impious  denials  of 
the  faith  should  be  punished  with  death,  but  that  it  was  the  univer- 
sal sentiment  of  the  Reformers,  as  well  in  England  as  on  the  Con- 
tinent. 


FANATICS  IN  ENGLAND.  113 

too  widely  prevailed.  Men  thought  and  said 
that  the  elect  could  never  sin ;  that  the  outward 
man  might  sin,  but  the  inward  man  could  not, 
and  that  they  had  a  divine  right  to  any  thing 
whatsoever  they  chose  :  a  horrible  doctrine, 
which  carried  out,  would  upset  the  world  in  a 
very  little  while.  England  was  overrun,  too, 
with  a  horde  of  fanatics  from  abroad,  termed 
Anabaptists,  who  not  only  scouted  at  and  reviled 
infant  baptism,  but  held  besides  many  other 
pernicious  notions ;  such  as,  that  all  things  among 
the  saints  should  be  common — that  all  usury, 
tithes  and  tribute  ouoht  to  be  abolished — that 
every  Christian  was  invested  with  the  power  of 
preaching,  if  moved  to  the  work — that  the  Church 
stood  in  no  need  of  clergy — that  in  the  kingdom 
of  Christ  civil  magistrates  were  useless — and 
that  God  still  revealed  His  will  by  dreams  and 
visions.  Other  corruptions  of  faith  and  manners 
found  too  ready  encouragement  among  the  peo- 
ple, and  gave  occasion  to  the  papists  to  exult 
over  the  troubles  arisin":  out  of  the  Reformation. 
In  October,  1549,  Bonner,  bishop  of  London, 
was  deprived  of  his  bishopric  because  of  his 
disobedience  to  the  orders  of  tEe  council,  and  in 
February,  1550,  Ridley,  the  great,  wise  and 
learned  bishop  of  Rochester,  was  transferred  to 
6* 


114  REFORMATION  IN  ENGLAND. 

the  important  see  of  London.  This  brought  him 
into  still  closer  intimacy  with  Cranmer,  whose 
friend  and  chaplain  he  had  been  for  years,  and 
enabled  him  to  do  good  service  to  the  cause  of 
truth  and  righteousness. 

At  his  first  visitation  this  year,  he  entered 
zealously  upon  his  duties ;  the  clerg}-  were  ex- 
horted and  warned  to  do  away  with  superstitious 
practices;  the  altars  of  stone  were  converted  into 
communion  tables  of  wood,  in  order  that  the 
blasphemous  notion  of  an  expiatory  sacrifice 
there  offered  by  the  priest  might  be  eflectually 
rooted  out;  and  unauthorized  preaching  and  ex- 
pounding of  the  Scriptures  were  condemned. 

In  February,  1550,  the  Ordination  Offices 
were  prepared,  mainly  by  Ridle}^  one  of  a 
committee  of  twelve  appointed  for  this  purpose. 
They  were  almost  precisely  the  same  with  those 
now  in  use ;  and  their  intrinsic  beauty  and  im- 
pressiveness  are  heightened  by  the  fact,  that  we 
are  using  the  very  words  of  one  of  our  noble 
army  of  martyrs,  every  time  we  are  present  at 
and  take  part  in  the  services  appointed  for  the 
ordination  of  bishops,  priests  and  deacons.  May 
God  give  us  grace  rightly  to  value  these  our 
inestimable  privileges ! 

It  is  but  proper,  in  this  place,  to  make  mention 


NEW    TROUBLES.  115 

of,  and  give  due  credit  to  several  distinguished 
foreigners,  Martin  Bucer,  Peter  Martyr,  Tremel- 
lius,  a  Lasco,  Fagius,  and  others,  who  visited 
England,   and  by  their  learning  and  zeal,  exer- 
cised considerable  influence  over  the  shape  which 
the  English  Reformation  finally  assumed.     It  is 
necessary,  also,  to  speak  of  these  matters  here, 
because  it  was  about  this  time  that  troubles  of  a 
new  kind  took  their  rise  among  the  Reformers, 
troubles,  which  have,  more  or  less,  vexed  the 
Church  of  England  ever  since,  have  stirred  up 
bitter  strife,  have  caused  dissensions  of  no  light 
character,  and  of  which,  at  the  present  day,  we 
are  reaping  the  fruits.     We  mean  by  this,  that 
the    spirit  of  insubordination,  of  wilful  disobe- 
dience to  the   laws  of  the  Church,  and  of  per- 
verse, vexatious  resistance  to  authority,  in  trifling 
and  indifferent  matters,  sprang  from  foreign  inter- 
course.    And  the  reason  is  plain  and  evident. 

The  Reformation  abroad  w^as  conducted  on 
different  principles  from  that  in  England  ;  there 
was  more  rashness  and  hastiness,  less  regard  for 
primitive  doctrine  and  usages,  and  more  violent 
controversies  than  in  England.  The  continental 
Reformers  seem  to  have  gone  to  their  work  more 
as  individuals  than  as  members  of  the  Church 
Catholic.     Luther  and  Calvin  became  founders 


116  REFORMATION  IN  ENGLAND. 

of  new  churches  or  parties,  called  by  their  names; 
whereas,  Cranmer  and  Ridley  endeavored  to  put 
aside  entirely  what  Cranmer   or  Ridley,  indivi- 
dually, might   think   or  do,  and  labored  only  for 
the  good  of  the  Church  at  large.  Abroad,  destruc- 
tion, entire  rooting  up  and  overturning  was  the 
watch-word  :  in  England,  every  effort  was  made 
to  hold  fast  to  whatever  was  good  and  true  in  the 
popish  system,  and  while  sternly  renouncing  its 
errors  and  abominations,  to  bring  the  Church  of 
England  back  again  to  primitive  truth  and  order. 
Luther  and  his  compeers  met  with  difficulties  in 
obtaining    the    Apostolic  succession,  and  need- 
lessly, and,   as   we  think,  very  culpably,  made 
light  of  it,  rejected  the  three  orders  of  the  min- 
istry, and  thus  gave  birth  to  numerous  Presby- 
terian societies  or  churches,  things  which  never 
before    were    heard    of,    although    perpetuated 
even  to  the  present  day  ;  but  Cranmer  pursued 
a  different  course.     Though  his  opinions  seem  to 
have  been  unsettled,  and  even  loose  on  this  point, 
though  he  entertained,  during  the  early,  part  of  his 
career,    exceeding  high  notions  of  the  powder  of 
the  civil  authority  in  the  affairs  of  the  Church,  in 
yet  connection  with  the  otherReformer  s,  he  calmly 
and  firmly  declared,  that  "  it  is  evident  unto  all 
men,  diligently  reading  Holy  Scriptures  and  an- 


CONTINENTAL    REFORMERS.  117 

cient  authors,  that  from  the  Apostles'  time  there 
have  been  these  orders  of  Ministers  in  Christ's 
Chm'ch, — Bishops,  Priests,  and  Deacons."  He 
dared  not,  in  his  zeal  against  popery,  destroy 
what  the  Lord  Himself  had  appointed. 

Would  to  God,  that  the  continental  brethren 
had  been  equally  careful,  equally  considerate  ! 
for  then  we  should  have  been  saved  a  world  of 
misery  and  trouble,  and  we  should  have  been  en- 
abled to  present  an  undivided  front  against  papal 
pretension  and  wickedness,  which  perhaps,  ere 
this,  might  have  resulted  in  its  downfall.  As  it 
is,  while  we,  in  common  with  the  foreign 
Reformers,  lament  their  want  of  the  Apostolic 
succession,  we  ought  to  be  especially  thankful 
for  God's  goodness  in  preserving  the  Church  in 
its  integrity  and  completeness  in  England. 

The  archbishop  had,  for  many  years,  desired 
to  fix  upon  and  establish  some  basis  of  union  be- 
tween the  Protestants  in  Enoland  and  those 
abroad  ;  he  had  a  long  and  earnest  correspondence 
with  the  excellent  Philip  INIelancthon  on  this  sub- 
ject ;  but  all  his  efforts  failed  of  success,  as  in- 
deed all  similar  efforts  in  later  daj^s  have  uni- 
formly done.  When  this  conviction  was  at  last 
forced  upon  his  mind,  Cranmer  turned  himself 
reluctantly  towards  the  preparation  of  a  set  of 


118  REFORMATION  IN  ENGLAND. 

Articles  of  Religion  for  the  Church  of  England. 
The  king  issued  orders  to  this  effect,  in  1551 ;  ar- 
ticles were  completed  in  May,  of  the  same  year, 
submitted  to  the  council  and  to  a  number  of  bish- 
ops, and  finally  agreed  upon  and  published  under 
the  following  title  : — "The  Articles  agreed  upon 
by  the  bishops  and  other  learned  and  godly  men, 
in  the  last  Convocation  at  London,  in  the  year  of 
our  Lord,  mdlii.,  for  to  root  out  the  discord  of 
opinions,  and  establish  the  agreement  of  true  re- 
ligion; likewise  published  by  the  king's  majes- 
ty's authority,  1553."  The  Articles  were  forty- 
two  in  number,  and  were  printed,  together  with 
a  short  Catechism  attached,  in  Latin  and  English. 
Subsequently,  various  unimportant  changes  were 
made,  and  in  1562,  early  in  the  reign  of  Elizabeth, 
the  present  Thirty-Nine  Articles  were  established 
by  the  Church  of  England. 

The  Articles  are  sometimes  claimed  as  Calvin- 
istic,  or,  as  being  in  harmony  with  Calvin's  no- 
tions of  absolute  predestination  and  reprobation ; 
but,  as  it  appears  to  us,  wholly  without  founda- 
tion. Calvin's  fame  and  influence  in  England 
were  subsequent  to  Cranmer's  day,  and  not  only 
the  date,  but  documents  of  every  kind  show  that 
the  archbishop  was  guided  more  by  Lutheran 
confessions   than  by  any  thing  of  Calvin's.     If 


ARTICLES    NOT    CALVINISTIC.  119 

more  be  wanting  to  confirm  the  truth  of  this  as- 
sertion, it  will  be  found  in  the  fact,  that  Calvinists 
have  very  rarely,  if  ever,  been  satisfied  with  the 
Articles  as  they  are,  and  have  made  many  and 
vigorous  efforts  to  introduce  changes  which  should 
render  them  clear  and  precise  in  support  of  the 
Genevan  Master's  dogmas.  The  truth  is,  that 
the  Articles,  if  we  would  understand  them,  must 
be  looked  at  as  pointed  against  the  perversions 
and  subtleties  of  the  schoolmen  and  doctors  of  the 
middle  ages,  and  against  the  abominations,  doc- 
trinal and  practical,  of  others  in  the  Roman 
Church  ;  and  on  no  other  ground  can  they  be  con- 
sistently interpreted,  or  be  made  to  harmonize 
with  the  Liturgy  and  Homilies  of  the  Church. 
This  has  been  abundantly  shown  in  archbishop 
Laurence's  Bampton  Lectures,  a  volume,  which 
we  hope  our  readers  will  take  an  early  day  to 
consult;  and  we  have  no  doubt  that  they  will 
ao^ree  with  us,  that  the  Church  does  not  hold  her- 
self  committed  to  the  opinions  of  either  St.  Au- 
gustine or  John  Calvin,  or,  indeed,  to  those  of 
any  one  or  more  teachers  ;  but  simply  to  the  doc- 
trines which  have  been  held  "always,  every 
where,  and  by  all,"  since  the  days  of  our  Lord 
and  His  Apostles. 


CHAPTER  VI. 


A.D.  1551—1553. 

Clergy  driven  abroad  by  Six  Article  act — Hooper — scruples  about 
clerical  robes — Bucer  and  Martyr  decide  against  him — sent  to 
prison — assents — consecrated  bishop — Hooper's  motives  sincere — 
unfortunate  result  of  this  trouble — revision  of  Book  of  Common 
Prayer — changes  introduced — Ridley's  sermon — Gardiner  de- 
graded— Ponet,  his  successor — Somerset's  fall — beheaded — War- 
wick's course — code  of  laws  for  the  Church — never  completed — 
bills  passed  by  parliament,  1552 — dreadful  licentiousness  of 
opinion  and  practice — evils  of  the  Reformation — destruction  of 
property  and  manuscripts — mysterious  dispensation  of  Providence 
Edward's  sickness — death — character — fearful  trial  in  prospect. 

When  the  bloody  act  of  the  Six  Articles  was 
passed,  numbers  of  the  clergy  were  driven 
abroad,  unable  to  endure  the  fierceness  of  its 
persecutions.  They  were  liospitably  received, 
and  entertained  by  the  foreign  Protestants,  and, 


hooper's  scruples.  121 

as  was  but  natural,  they  became  tinged  with  the 
sentiments  of  those  who  had  cast  off  every  thing 
that  approximated  at  all  to  Rome,  or  Roman 
customs.  Among  these,  was  Hooper — an  up- 
right, pious  and  faithful  minister  of  Christ,  but 
too  tenacious  of  his  own  opinions,  and  too  much 
given  to  make  trouble  about  matters  little  in  them- 
selves, but  of  consequence  when  enjoined  by  the 
Church.  On  the  accession  of  Edward,  he,  with 
others,  returned  to  England,  and  Cranmer  de- 
sired to  have  him  elevated  to  the  episcopate,  be- 
cause of  his  sterling  qualities,  not  dreaming  that 
so  sensible  and  learned  a  man  could  ever  make 
difficulty  about  trifling  and  indifferent  things. 
But  to  his  surprise.  Hooper  refused  to  wear  the 
robes  of  a  bishop,  and  no  advice  or  argument 
was  able  to  shake  his  resolution.  Even  Martin 
Bucer,  and  Peter  Martyr,  those  learned  foreign- 
ers at  this  time  in  England,  decided,  that  it  was 
not  a  matter  of  conscience,  but,  that  a  man  might 
wear  any  prescribed  garaient,  and  still  more,  that 
it  was  a  man's  duty  to  obey  the  laws  of  the 
Church  on  this  subject.  Ridley,  also,  and  Cran- 
mer spent  much  time  in  combatting  his  unreason- 
able scruples,  but  all  to  little  purpose.  After 
the  fashion  of  those  days,  he  was  sent  to  pri- 
son, where  he  remained  six  weeks,  debating  the 


122  REFORMATION  IN  ENGLAND. 

point ;  after  which,  he  yielded  a  partial  and  ra- 
ther ungracious  consent  to  wear  so  much  of  the 
robes,  and  on  such  occasions  as  could  not  be 
avoided.  With  this  understanding,  he  was  con- 
secrated bishop  of  Gloucester,  in  March,  1551, 
and  we  are  happy  to  say,  that  despite  his  course 
on  this  subject,  he  was  a  faithful,  laborious,  and 
orderly  bishop,  and  did  good  service  to  the  cause 
of  the  Reformation. 

We  have  no  doubt,  that  Hooper  was  honest 
and  sincere  in  his  opposition  to  what  the  Church 
required  on  the  point  of  clerical  robes,  and  that 
he  supposed  that  more  of  principle  was  involved 
than  is  really  the  case.  He  probably  thought 
that  it  was  needful  to  separate  so  far  from  popery 
as  to  cut  off  every  thing,  even  what  was  true,  in 
that  corrupt  system,  and  perhaps,  he  believed  in 
the  saying,  "  the  farther  from  Rome  the  nearer  to 
God."  Had  he  alone  been  concerned,  or  had 
those  who  held  similar  views  with  himself,  been 
equally  candid  and  open  to  conviction,  there 
would  have  been  no  serious  and  lasting  difficulty  ; 
but  it  turned  out  far  otherwise,  and  the  spirit  of 
opposition  to  Church  law  and  Church  requirement 
once  raised,  has  been  found  too  powerful  ever  yet 
to  be  effectually  and  permanently  laid  at  rest. 

Men  of  restless  minds ;  men  whose  ideas  con- 


VEXATIOUS    QUESTIONS.  123 

centered  to  one  point,  and  thought  that  it  was  the 
sum  and  substance  of  truth ;  men  of  uneasy  ha- 
bits and  fault-finding  dispositions  ;  men  never  con- 
tented with  things  as  they  are  arranged  by  the 
Church,  but  always  seeking  after  change,  and 
supposing  that  they  can  regulate  matters  of  all 
kinds  better  than  they  were  ever  before ;  men, 
whose  minds  have  been  cramped  or  warped  by 
bad  education ;  men,  ambitious  of  place,  noto- 
riety, or,  of  being  the  head  of  a  party ;  men  of 
these  various  sorts,  have  followed,  and  been  glad 
to  have  so  respectable  a  pattern  to  quote,  as  the 
bishop  of  Gloucester.  And  the  trouble  which 
has  arisen  in  consequence,  it  would  be  impossi- 
ble fully  to  state.  We  can  only  briefly  say,  that 
there  never  has  been  found  wanting  a  man  to 
keep  alive  a  spirit  of  perverse  opposition  and 
wilful  disresfard  of  the  law  of  the  Church,  in  those 
matters  which  she  has  a  perfect  right  to  regulate. 
Manifold  have  been  the  discussions,  and  bitter 
the  controversies  on  this  subject.  Not  even 
Hooker's  learning  and  wisdom,  as  shown  in  his 
great  work  on  "  Ecclesiastical  Polity,"  have  been 
able  to  settle  the  question  entirely  ;  and  we  see 
sometimes,  even  in  our  own  day,  clergymen  tak- 
ing more  or  less  liberty  to  themselves  on  points 
determined  by  the  Church,  according  as  they  are 


124  REFORMATION  IN  ENGLAND. 

more  or  less  disposed  to  reverence  what  she  has 
laid  down  for  them  to  obey,  or  to  set  up  in  oppo- 
sition, their  own  wishes  and  opinions.  Our  read- 
ers will  find  it  deeply  interesting,  to  trace  the 
spirit  above  spoken  of,  through  Elizabeth's  reign, 
to  its  final  development  in  the  Puritans  of  James 
Sixth,  and  Charles  First's  days.  It  is  beside  our 
present  purpose  to  enter  into  this  question. 

The  Book  of  Common  Prayer  as  set  forth  by 
authority,  in  Januar}^  1549,  was  used  throughout 
the  realm  from  that  date.  The  experience  of  a 
few  years,  however,  and  the  inveterate  clamor 
raised  by  the  |)apal  party  and  by  others,  sug- 
gested the  need  of  some  changes,  and  a  review 
was  accordingly  ordered  by  the  heads  of  the 
Church.  The  alterations  made  were  substantially 
these  : — the  First  Book  of  Edward  VI.  began 
with  the  Lord's  Prayer ;  there  were  now  intro- 
duced the  Sentences,  the  Exhortation,  the  General 
Confession  and  the  Absolution  ;  the  idea  of  which 
was  derived  from  a  form  of  prayer  in  use  by 
the  Protestant  congregation  in  Strasburgh.  The 
Litany  was  ordered  to  be  used  on  Sundays. 
The  Ten  Commandments  were  made  a  part  of 
the  Communion  Service  ;  the  thanksgiving  for 
the  saints,  the  name  of  the  Virgin  Mary,  the  sign 
of  the  cross  in  consecrating  the  elements,    the 


SECOND    BOOK    OF    EDWARD    VI.  125 

mixture  of  water  with  the  wine,  &c.,  were 
omitted.  In  the  Baptismal  Service,  the  form  of 
exorcisrh,  the  anointing  of  the  child  and  the  trine 
immersion  w^ere  discontinued.  So  too  in  visiting 
the  sick,  anointing  was  done  away  with  ;  and  in 
the  Burial  Service,  prayers  for  the  dead,  and  the 
office  for  the  Eucharist  at  funerals,  were  left  out. 
In  this  review,  the  sentiments  of  Martin  Bucer 
and  Peter  Martyr,  both  men  of  note  for  learning 
and  piet}^,  seem  to  have  had  considerable  weight. 
Early  in  1552,  the  Book  of  Common  Pra3^er,  as 
thus  changed,  was  authorized  by  act  of  parlia- 
ment, and  is  in  substance  the  same  with  that 
now  in  use  by  the  Church  of  England.  On  the 
day  appointed  for  the  introduction  of  the  Book 
as  revised,  the  service  was  read  in  his  cathedral 
by  Ridley,  habited,  conformably  to  the  new  ru= 
l)ric,  in  his  rochet  only,  w^ithout  the  embroidered 
cope  or  vestment.  In  the  afternoon,  we  are  told, 
"  a  sermon  was  preached  by  him  at  St.  Paul's 
Cross,  chiefly  on  the  new  Service  Book:  and  his 
discourse  was  of  such  formidable  length,  that 
the  corporation  of  London,  who  attended  it,  de- 
parted homeward,  at  nearly  five  o'clock,  by 
torch-liirht."* 

o 

*  Le  Bas's  Life  of  Cranmer,  vol.  ii.  p.  68. 


126  REFORMATION  IN  ENGLAND. 

Gardiner,  bishop  of  Winchester,  who  had  been 
imprisoned  in  1547,  gave  the  government  a  great 
deal  of  trouble  ;  he  was  kept  in  confinement,  on 
the  charge  of  obstinacy  and  attachment  to  popish 
superstitions,  and  was  finally,  after  suffering  se- 
vere and  harsh  treatment,  deprived  of  his  bishop- 
ric, April  18th,  1551.  He  was  succeeded  in  the 
see  of  Winchester  by  Dr.  Ponet,  a  divine  of 
eminent  worth  mid  learning ;  but  the  new  bishop 
did  7iot  succeed  to  the  revenues  of  his  office. 
Only  a  pittance  was  allowed  him  ;  the  rest  went 
to  supply  some  hungry  courtiers — "  honorable 
persons,"  they  are  called — and  hangers-on  about 
the  great  men  in  power.  It  is  no  want  of  charity 
to  suppose  that  Gardiner's  wealth  rendered  the 
vision  of  the  court  much  more  acute  than  usual 
in  detecting  his  iniquities. 

Shortly  after  the  settlement  of  this  affair,  the 
duke  of  Somerset,  the  lord  protector,  met  with  a 
lamentable 'dow^nfall.  By  the  intrigues  of  Dud- 
ley, earl  of  Warwick — afterwards  the  notorious 
duke  of  Northumberland — he  wks  charged  with 
treasonable  designs,  and  sent  to  the  tower,  in 
July,  1549.  On  his  trial  no  charges  of  material 
consequence  were  substantiated,  though  it  was 
manifest  that  he  had  been  vain,  ambitious,  and 
unwise  ;  that  he,  too,  with  the  rest  of  the  court, 


somerset's  fall.  127 

had  seized  upon  the  revenues  of  the  Church ; 
and  that  his  pohcy  had  failed  to  secure  the 
triumph  of  British  arms  abroad,  or  peace  and 
tranquility  at  home.  After  a  confinement  of  about 
four  months  he  was  released,  but  having  taken 
some  steps  which  laid  him  open  to  Northumber- 
land's jealousy  and  hate,  he  was  again  arrested 
and  convicted  of  felony  ;  and  though  not  guilty 
of  crimes  meriting  death,  he  was  brought  to  the 
scaffold  and  beheaded,  January  22d,  1552. 

The  popish  party  expected  to  profit  by  the 
overthrow  of  so  distinguished  a  man  and  so  firm 
a  friend  to  the  Reformation  ;  but  Warwick,  who 
succeeded  him  in  the  chief  management  of  affairs, 
knowing  the  king's  deep  and  unalterable  attach- 
ment to  the  cause  of  reform,  deemed  it  better 
policy  not  to  meddle  with  Church  matters  too 
much,  or  to  seek  to  stay  the  onward  progress  of 
the  truth  in  its  purity  and  integrity.  His  views 
were  wholly  worldly,  and  he  was  little  inclined 
to  that  course  which  would  have  demanded  a 
giving  up  of  Church  property  to  its  rightful 
owners,  since  in  fact  he  was  one  of  the  greatest 
and  most  scandalous  church-robbers  of  his  day. 
Whatever  Somerset's  faults  may  have  been — 
and  they  were  not  a  few,  as  we  have  before  said 
=-he  was  sincerely  attached  to  the  Reformation, 


128  REFORMATION    IN    BNGLAND» 

and  manifested,  when  in  prison,  that  the  graces 
of  the  Christian  character  had  not  been  planted 
in  a  sterile  soil.  It  is  certainly  no  honor  to  Ed- 
ward's reign  that  his  uncle  perished  in  this 
manner. 

During  the  reign  of  Henry  VIII.  the  archbishop 
had  thought  much  upon  a  project  for  the  refor- 
mation of  the  laws  of  the  Church,  which,  on 
various  accounts,  needed  entire  and  thorough 
revision :  but  Henry,  through  the  artifices  of  G  ar- 
diner  and  others,  did  not  give  it  his  cordial  ap- 
proval, so  that  nothing  of  consequence  was  done 
while  he  lived.  Shortly  after  Edward  came  to 
the  throne,  the  plan  was  revived  under  better 
auspices ;  eight  commissioners  were  appointed  to 
examine  the  ancient  canons  of  the  Church  and 
to  prepare  a  code  which  might  be  suitable  to  the 
wants  of  the  ecclesiastical  courts,  and  to  the 
general  good  order  and  discipline  of  the  Church. 
Cranmer,  who  was  at  the  head  of  the  commis- 
sion, labored  diligently  in  this  difficult  and  im- 
portant undertaking,  but  unhappily  the  early  death 
of  Edward  prevented  the  final  completion  and 
establishment  of  a  requisite  body  of  laws  for  the 
Church  of  England.  In  the  reign  of  Elizabeth, 
in  1571,  the  work,  as  arranged  by  the  archbishop, 
was  published  under  the  title  of  Reformatio  Le- 


CLOSE  OF  Edward's  REiaN.  129 

gtim  Ecclesiasticarum.     It  has,  however,  no  bind- 
ing authority  in  the  Church. 

In  the  parhament  of  this  year,  (1552,)  several 
bills  of  importance  to  the  Church  received  its 
sanction.  One  confirmed  the  changes  made  in 
the  revision  of  the  Prayer  Book,  and  directed, 
that  attendance  on  the  new  service  should  be  en- 
forced, under  severe  censures  ;  a  second  settled 
the  observance  of  the  holy-days  retained  in  the 
Calendar  ;  a  third  declared  that  the  marriage  of 
the  clergy  was  legal  to  all  intents  and  purposes, 
an  act  which  was  required  to  enable  the  children 
of  clergymen  to  inherit  according  to  law,  they 
having  heretofore,  through  the  strong  prejudices 
of  the  people,  been  considered  illegitimate.  In 
the  convocation  of  the  present  year,  the  clergy 
aQ:reed  to  the  Articles. 

In  bringing  to  a  close,  the  history  of  the  Re- 
formation during  the  reign  of  Edward  VI.,  there 
are  two  thinors  which  cannot  but  strike  the  mind 
of  the  reader  most  forcibly,  and  cause  him  sad 
and  sorrowful  reflections.  The  one  is  the  dread- 
ful licentiousness  of  opinion  and  practice,  and  the 
strange  obliquity  of  moral  perception,  every  where 
prevalent,  not\\dthstanding  all  the  efl^orts  of  the 
Reformers,  and  the  faithful  preaching  of  the 
Gospel  by  a  large  body  of  the  clergy.  The  other 
7 


130  REFORMATION  IN  ENGLAND. 

is  the  mysterious,  but,  as  we  see,  wise  dispensa- 
tions of  divine  Providence,  in  removing  the 
young  king,  and  bringing  upon  the  Church  and 
nation  the  hour  of  fiery  trials.  A  little  reflection 
will  show  the  justice  of  these  remarks. 

When  popery  was  overthrown  in  England,  so 
great  and  so  extensive  was  the  shock,  that  so- 
ciety was  agitated  to  its  very  centre,  and  men's 
minds  seemed  to  be  given  over  to  every  form  and 
species  of  extravagance  and  fanaticism.  The 
spirit  of  evil  had  been  let  loose,  and  raged  wildly 
through  the  land  :  covetousness,  ungodly  irre- 
verence, and  shocking  levity  and  profanit}?",  all 
were  in  full  vigor  :  luxury  and  wickedness, 
crimes  of  all  descriptions,  and  unheard  of  abomi- 
nations were,  alas,  too  common  among  those  who 
knew  better  and  should  have  set  a  better  ex- 
ample to  the  people.  Freedom  from  the  tyranny 
of  popish  exactions  was  interpreted  as  giving 
liberty  for  any  and  all  extravagances  :  men  who 
loved  pleasure  were  rejoiced  at  the  prospect  of 
going  to  all  lengths  without  fear  or  hindrance  ; 
some,  who  wished  to  do  right,  but  who  had  more 
zeal  than  knowledge,  were  eager  to  tear  down 
and  root  up  every  thing  which  in  any  wise  had 
been  in  use  among  the  papists,  no  matter  how 
venerable  and  excellent  it  might  be.     The  un- 


EVILS    OF    THE  REFORMATION.  131 

godly  spoilers  and  robbers  of  the  Church's  pro- 
perty, grasped  the  wealth  on  which  they  could 
lay  hands,  and  cared  for  nothing  but  how  they 
might  fill  their  coffers  with  money.  Their  halls 
were  hung  with  altar  cloths;  their  tables  and 
beds  were  covered  with  copes  instead  of  carpets 
and  coverlets :  chalices  were  used  for  carousing 
cups,  at  the  tables  of  the  bolder  plunderers,  and 
horses  were  watered  in  the  stone  and  marble  cof- 
fins of  the  dead  ; — so  horrible  and  so  widespread 
was  the  destruction  of  churches  throughout  Eng- 
land. Somerset  pulled  down  churches  and  chap- 
els, and  violated  the  graves  of  the  dead,  to  make 
room  and  supply  materials  for  his  lordly  palace, 
and  monopolized  to  himself  a  deanery,  treasurer- 
ship  of  a  cathedral,  prebends,  and  other  ecclesi- 
astical revenues.  Tombs  were  stripped  of  their 
monumental  brasses ;  churches  of  their  lead  ;  and 
bells  in  immense  numbers,  were  exported  to  be 
ca>t  into  cannon.  "  Who  can  call  to  mind,  with- 
out grief  and  indignation,  how  many  magnificent 
edifices  were  overthrown  in  this  undistinguishing 
havoc  ! Malmsbury,  Battle,  Waltham,  Mal- 
vern, Lantony,  Rivaux,  Fountains,  Whalley, 
Kirkstall,  T intern,  Tavistock,  and  so  many 
others,  the  noblest  works  of  architecture, 
and  the  most  venerable  monuments  of  antiquity, 


132  REFORMATION  IN  ENGLAND. 

each  the  blessing  of  the  surrounding  country,  and 
collectively  the  glory  of  the  land  !  Glastonbury, 
which  was  most  venerable  of  all,  even  less  for  its 
undoubted  age  than  for  the  circumstances  con- 
nected with  its  history,  and  which  in  beauty  and 
subhmity  of  structure,  was  equalled  by. few,  sur- 
passed by  none,  was  converted  by  Somerset,  af- 
ter it  had  been  stript  and  dilapidated,  into  a  ma- 
nufactory, where  refugee  weavers,  chiefly  French 
and  Walloons,  were  to  set  up  their  trade  !"* 
Finally,  the  destruction  of  the  manuscripts  in  the 
libraries  of  the  monasteries,  was  so  grievous  and 
so  general,  as  to  make  one  groan  and  weep.  Eng- 
land's most  noble  antiquities  were  ruined  ;  the 
most  valuable  books  and  manuscripts  were  sold 
to  chandlers  and  grocers  for  waste  paper  ;  whole 
ship  loads  were  sent  abroad  to  foreign  bookbind- 
ers, that  the  vellum  or  parchment  might  be  used 
in  their  trade.  Thus  English  history  sustained 
irreparable  losses,  and  literature  received  a  blow 
from  the  eflfects  of  which  it  has  never  recovered. 
Are  we  not  right  in  saying  that,  such  things  as 
these  cause  us  sad  and  sorrowful  reflections? 
who  can  restrain  himself  from  exclamations  of 
indignation  and  regret '?     Wefl  is  it  that  we  can 

*  Southey's  Book  of  the  Church,  chap.  xiii. 


Edward's  death.  133 

turn  from  so  dreadful  a  scene  to  contemplate  a 
while  the  other  of  the  two  thinsfs  to  which  we 
wish  to  call  attention :  well  is  it  that  we  should 
look  upon  that  which  moves  us  to  grief,  and 
ought  to  make  us  bow  ip  humble  submission  to 
the  righteous  dispensations  of  Almighty  God. 

The  noble  young  king,  whose  reign  seemed  to 
hold  out  promise  of  so  much  good  to  the  Church, 
early  showed  signs  of  decaying  health,  and  was 
not  spared  long  to  bless  the  world  with  his  pre- 
sence. He  had  never  been  rugged,  and  of  late 
it  became  but  too  evident  that  his  strength  was 
failing  rapidly.  In  his  last  sickness  the  Christian 
graces,  for  which  his  whole  life  had  been  remark- 
able, shone  with  brighter  lustre  than  ever :  and 
after  gratifying  his  pious  soul  with  several  muni- 
ficent charities,  suggested  by  Ridley,  he  breathed 
forth  his  spirit  in  prayer  for  the  good  of  the 
Church  and  the  welfare  of  his  people.  The 
mournful  event  occurred  at  Greenwich,  on  the 
6th  of  July,  1553,  he  being  in  the  sixteenth  year 
of  his  age  and  the  seventh  of  his  reign. 

Of  his  character,  there  is  and  can  be  but  one 
sentiment  expressed.  It  was  every  thing  that 
was  lovely,  every  thing  that  was  noble,  every 
thing  that  was  of  good  report.  His  talents  were 
of  a  high   order,    his   learning  far   beyond  the 


134  REFORMATION  IN  ENGLAND. 

average  standing  of  youths  of  his  own  age,  and 
his  virtues  so  great  as  to  call  forth  the  admiration 
of  all  who  saw  or  knew  him.  "  No  pen,"  says 
Fuller,  "  passeth  by  him  without  praising  him, 
though  none  praising  him  to  his  full  deserts." 

When  every  thing  seemed,  so  far  as  we  can 
see,  so  admirably  fitted  for  a  long,  prosperous 
and  useful  reign,  when  the  prospects  of  advantage 
to  the  state  and  the  Church  were  so  great  and  so 
manifold,  while  a  prince  of  Edward's  temper 
and  qualifications  sat  on  the  throne,  how  myste- 
rious do  the  ways  of  God  appear,  and  how  un- 
searchable His  judgments  !  It  pleased  Him  not 
to  spare  the  pious  Edward ;  it  was  not  His  will 
that  His  Church  should  escape  tribulation ;  and 
as  the  sun  of  England's  Josiah  set  in  glory  which 
is  not  of  this  world,  the  dark  and  ominous  clouds 
of  trial  arose  and  overshadowed  the  land,  making 
the  stoutest  hearts  to  tremble,  and  the  timid  to 
quake  with  fear.  Well  might  the  Reformers 
exclaim  against  the  wickedness  which  so  greatly 
abounded,  and  count  it  a  direct  judgment  from 
heaven  that  the  pious  young  king  was  taken 
away ;  well  might  they  nerve  their  souls  for  the 
fiery  trials  which  were  near  at  hand  :  the  papal 
party,  with  Gardiner  as  their  leader  and  exem- 
plar, had  bided  the  time  ;  they  were  waiting  for 


POPERY  TRIUMPHANT.  135 

the  day  of  vengeance,  when  they  might  sate 
their  wrath  with  the  blood  of  their  hated  oppo- 
nents ;  that  day  was  at  hand,  and  popery  was 
again  triumphant. 


CHAPTER  VII 


A.  D.  1553—1555. 

Lady  Jane  Grey — her  character — manner  in  which  she  was  ele- 
vated to  the  throne — eleven  days  queen — Mary  mounts  the 
throne — Jane  beheaded — promised  toleration — duplicity  of  the 
queen — course  determined  on — ^indecent  haste  in  restoring  popish 
practices — Hooper  imprisoned — Cranmer  sent  to  the  tower — pri- 
sons soon  crowded  with  Reformers — their  courage  and  constancy 
— Commendone,  papal  emissary  in  England — doings  in  parlia- 
ment— Spanish  match  greatly  disliked — Gardiner  opposes  it — 
Philip's  character — result — marriage  takes  place — convocation 
meets — its  acts — public  discussions — unfairness — popish  taunt  — 
— Romish  bishop  appointed — Cranmer,  Ridley,  Latimer  borne 
down  by  clamor  and  abuse — re-action — respite  for  a  while — Eli- 
zabeth saved  by  Philip — Cardinal  Pole,  papal  legate — absolves 
the  nation — queen's  sacrifices — persecuting  statutes  revived — 
Pole's  feelings — policy  resolved  upon. 

There  is  no  sadder  story  in  the  history  of  these 
troublous  times  than  that  of  the  ill-fated  Lady 
Jane  Grey.     Possessed  of  every  virtue,  highly 


LADY  JANE  GREY.  137 

accomplishecl,  and  learned  far  beyond  the  stand- 
ard usually  allowed  to  her  sex,  having  no  ambi- 
tion to  shine  any  where  but  in  the  sphere  properly 
belonging  to  her,  she  was  3^et,  through  the  crimi- 
nal ambition  of  her  fither-in-law,  the  duke  of 
Northumberland,  involved  in  difficulties,  and 
placed  in  such  a  position  as  soon  led  to  complete 
overthrow  of  allher  prospects  of  life  and  happi- 
ness, and  the  death  of  herself  and  her  husband 
on  the  scaffold.  It  is  impossible  not  to  pity  so 
gentle,  so  lovely  and  so  innocent  a  victim  :  it  is 
equally  impossible  not  to  admire  the  more  than 
human  courage  and  constancy  with  which  she 
went  throu2:h  her  last  bitter  trial. 

The  causes  which  led  to  her  untimely  death 
were  briefly  these  : — Edward  VI.,  deeply  anxious 
for  the  cause  of  the  Reformation,  and  well  know- 
ing that  his  sister  Mary  was  wedded  to  popish 
superstitions  and  errors,  and  obstinately  bent  on 
adhering  to  them,  in  his  last  sickness  took  a  step 
which  he  no  doubt  thought  right,  but  which, 
being  unsanctioned  by  law,  was  really  wrong. 
Induced  mainly  by  the  wicked  and  ambitious 
duke  of  Northumberland,  he  drew  up  a  will,  by 
which  were  set  aside  the  princessess  Mary  and 
Elizabeth,  the  next  legal  heirs  to  the  throne,  and 
the  crown  was  bestowed  on  Lady  Jane  Grey, 
7* 


138  REFORMATION  IN  ENGLAND. 

the  daughter-in-law  of  Northumberland,  and  the 
grand-daughtfer  of  Mar}^,  sister  of  Henry  VIII. 
The  judges  and  the  members  of  the  privy  council 
at  first  positivel}^  refused  to  accede  to  this  request 
of  Edward's,  but  after  earnest  entreaties,  and  in 
obedience  to  his  express  commands,  they  signed 
the  will,  and  agreed  to  support  it,  all  except  Sir 
James  Hales  and  archbishop  Cranmer :  the  latter 
was,  however,  ultimately  prevailed  upon  to  join 
with  the  rest  of  the  council — an  act  which  he 
soon  after  had  cause  bitterly  to  repent.  Jane, 
with  manifest  and  strong  reluctance,  and  with 
almost  entire  unconcern  on  the  part  of  the  people, 
was  proclaimed,  July  9th,  1553  ;  and  the  next 
day,  Ridley  preached  at  St.  Paul's  Cross  in  her 
behatf. 

It  was  only  a  few  days  afterwards  that  Mary, 
finding  the  voice  of  the  people  in  her  favor,  and 
her  forces  augmenting  rapidty,  came  towards 
London,  and  Jane,  having  reigned  but  eleven 
days,  most  gladly  laid  down  the  burden  of  a 
crown.  Mary  entered  London  on  the  third  of 
August,  and  was  soon  quietly  seated  on  her 
father's  throne.  Jane  was  committed  to  the 
tower  on  the  charge  of  high  treason,  and  early 
the  next  year,  when  a  plausible  pretext  was 
offered,  was  beheaded  on  the  scaflbld.     She  was 


FIRST  ACTS  OF  MARY.  139 

only  in  her  seventeenth  year  when  this  event 
occurred,  and  her  lot  has  been  universally  de- 
plored.* 

Among  the  very  first  acts  of  the  new  queen, 
was  a  declaration  setting  forth  that  she  did  not 
intend  to  compel  the  consciences  of  her  people, 
and  that  toleration  on  the  subject  of  religion 
should  be  allowed.  We  are  sorry  to  say,  that 
very  little  of  this  was  sincerely  meant,  for  only 
two  days  afterwards,  she  added  a  condition,  viz., 
"  until  such  time  as  further  order,  by  common 
consent,  may  be  taken  therein;"  that  is,  she 
would  refrain  from  compulsion  until,  by  law,  she 
could  give  her  subjects  the  choice  of  popery  or 
death. 

Ere  long,  it  became  perfectly  evident  that 
Mary  and  her  advisers  had  determined  upon  a 
course  of  severity  and  sharpness,  by  which,  as 

*  The  history  of  tyranny  affords  no  example  of  a  female  of  se- 
venteen, by  the  command  of  a  female,  and  a  relation,  put  to  death 
for  acquiescence  in  the  injunction  of  a  father,  sanctioned  by  the 
concurrence  of  all  that  the  kingdom  could  boast  of  as  illustrious  in 
nobility,  or  grave  in  law,  or  venerable  in  religion.  The  example  is 
the  more  affecting,  as  it  is  that  of  a  person  who  exhibited  a  match- 
less union  of  youth  and  beauty  with  genius,  with  learning,  with 
virtue,  with  piety ;  whose  affections  were  so  warm,  while  her  pas- 
sions were  so  perfectly  subdued.  It  was  a  death  sufficient  to  honor 
and  dishonor  an  age. — Sir  James  Mackintosh's  History  of  Eng- 
land,  chap.  xv. 


140  REFORMATION    IN    ENGLAND. 

they  hoped,  the  Reformation  would  be  crushed 
entirely,  and  popery  re-estabhshed  in  England. 
Gardiner  was  taken  out  of  prison  immediately  on 
Mary's  accession,  and  made  lord  chancellor  ;  the 
Romish  bishops  were  restored ;  the  notorious 
Bonner  took  possession  of  the  see  of  London,  two 
days  after  Mary  entered  the  city ;  the  mass  was 
said  in  many  places,  though  entirely  contrary  to 
law  ;  the  preaching  of  the  reformed  clergy  was 
restrained  by  an  order  in  council,  and  a  commis- 
sion was  appointed,  Gardiner  and  Bonner  being 
two  of  them,  to  degrade  and  imprison  the  sup- 
porters of  the  Reformation  among  the  clergy,  on 
the  threefold  charge  of  treason,  heresy,  and 
matrimony.    - 

On  the  first  of  September,  Hooper  was  Im- 
prisoned, and  about  the  middle  of  the  same 
month  Cranmer  was  sent  to  the  tower  on  the 
charge  of  high  treason,  both  because  he  had 
joined  with  the  rest  of  the  council  in  the  attempt 
to  set  aside  Mary  and  put  Lady  Jane  Grey  on 
the  throne,  and  because  he  had  indignantly,  and 
in  strong  terms,  denied  the  story  which  was  put 
in  circulation,  that  the  mass  had  been  introduced 
by  his  direction,  and  with  his  consent,  into  Can- 
terbury cathedral,  affirming  that  it  was  a  "false, 
flattering,   lying  and  dissembling   monk,"   who 


REFORMERS  IN  PRISON.  141 

had  done  thus.  Nay,  he  went  so  far  as  to  offer 
pubHcly  to  prove  the  folly  of  the  mass,  and  the 
soundness  of  the  Liturgy  of  Edward  VI.  Most 
of  the  other  distinguished  leaders,  including  bi- 
shops and  doctors,  and  a  host  of  others,  soon 
found  their  way  into  prison,  where  they  were 
treated  with  brutal  indignity,  subjected  to  all  the 
insults  and  hardships  which  malicious  meanness 
could  invent,  deprived  of  common  comforts,  of 
books,  of  intercourse  with  friends,  and  made  to 
feel,  day  by  day,  that  the  stake  and  the  fiery 
flame  were  all  that  they  could  look  forward  to. 

The  prisons  were  soon  crowded  with  victims. 
Ridley,  Latimer,  John  Rogers,  Rowland  Tajdor, 
Bradford,  and  others  of  less  note  among  the 
Reformers,  were  confined  and  harshly  treated, 
in  order,  it  seems,  to  break  down  their  spirits  by 
bodilv  sufFerins:,  and  in  some  evil  moment  to 
prevail  upon  them  to  recant;  but  all  in  vain. 
They  stirred  up  one  another  to  do  manfully  for 
the  truth ;  incessant  prayer  brought  down  new 
supplies  of  grace  ;  their  courage  rose  as  their 
persecution  became  sharper ;  and  the  fire  had  no 
terrors  which  could  shake  the  unconquerable 
energy  and  constancy  of  the  noble  army  of  mar- 
tyrs, who,  during  this  bloody  reign,  laid  down 


142  REFORMATION  IN  ENGLAND. 

their  lives  for  the  truth  of  the  principles  of  the 
Gospel  and  the  Prayer  Book. 

Heavy  though  the  task  may  be,  and  is,  to 
record  these  things;  much  as  our  bosoms  may 
and  must  burn  with  hatred  against  the  devilish 
spirit  of  barbarity,  torture  and  cruelty,  almost 
every  where  displayed ;  still  our  hearts  glow 
within  us,  as  we  read  of  the  courage  and  con- 
stancy of  the  martyred  bishops  and  doctors  of 
the  Church ;  our  souls  seem  to  acquire  additional 
strength  to  persevere  and  fight  the  good  fight  of 
faith,  as  becomes  professors  of  the  same  truth 
which  these  went  so  joyfully  to  the  stake  to 
maintain.  It  is  with  regret  that  we  find  that  our 
limits  will  allow  only  a  brief  notice  of  these 
martyrdoms.  Strype's  Lives,  and  Ecclesiastical 
Memorials,  Fox's  Book  of  Martyrs,  Southey's 
Book  of  the  Church,  Wordsworth's  Ecclesiastical 
Biography,  and  the  larger  histories  of  the  Refor- 
mation, may  be  turned  to  by  those  who  have 
time  and  wish  to  know  all  that  is  recorded  on 
this  subject. 

Very  soon  after  Mary's  elevation  to  the  throne, 
a  papal  emissary,  named  Commendone,  obtained 
access  to  her,  and  both  inflamed  her  native  bi- 
gotry and  hinted  to  her  the  advantage  it  would 


ACTS  OF  PARLIAMENT.  143 

be  to  form  a  matrimonial  alliance  with  Philip,  son 
of  the  emperor,  Charles  V.  On  his  way  to 
Rome,  Commendone  called  on  cardinal  Pole, 
who  had  been  declared  a  traitor  in  Henry's  reign, 
and  therefore  dared  not  to  set  foot  in  England  so 
long  as  the  bill  of  attainder  stood  unrepealed. 
Mary  was  very  anxious  to  receive  Pole  immedi- 
ately as  papal  legate,  but  this  could  not  be  done 
till  parliament  repealed  the  law  forbidding  any 
legate  of  the  pope  to  land  in  England,  and  till  he 
himself  was  released  from  danger  of  punishment 
for  his  treasonable  practices.  Consequently,  Pole 
had  to  wait,  and  even  Gardiner  strongly  advised 
Mary  not  to  be  too  hasty  in  this  matter. 

Parliament  met  in  October,  1553.  Several 
acts  were  passed,  among  which,  were  those  re- 
pealing every  thing  done  in  Edward's  reign  re- 
lating to  rehgion,  and  restoring  matters  to  the 
condition  in  which  they  were  left  at  the  death  of 
Henry  VIII.  An  act  also  was  passed  sanction- 
ing the  queen's  restoring  the  old  service.  In 
truth,  parliament  was  willing  to  do  almost  any 
thing  the  queen  required  on  the  subject  of  re- 
ligion and  politics  ;  but  they  had  a  fixed  dislike 
— and  in  this  they  represented  the  sense  of  the 
Enghsh  nation — to  the  project  just  alluded  to,  of 
a  match  between  the  queen  and  Philip  of  Spain. 


144  REFORMATION  IN  ENGLAND. 

It  deserves  to  be  related,  to  the  credit  of  Gardi- 
ner, of  whom  we  can  very  rarely  speak  in  terms 
of  praise,  that  he  opposed  this  Spanish  alliance 
with  all  his  ability,  and  even  to  his  own  risk,  and 
when  he  could  not  succeed  in  breaking  it  off,  he 
managed  to  obtain  the  most  favorable  terms  for 
England.  Not  only  on  the  ground  of  patriotism, 
but  on  others,  this  match  was  opposed  heartily, 
even  by  the  popish  party.  Philip  was  known  to 
have  the  vices  of  his  nation,  and  few,  if  any,  of 
its  redeeming  and  noble  qualities :  though  he  em- 
ployed his  gold  most  lavishly,  in  purchasing  good 
opinions,  still  it  was  felt,  that  he  was  dark,  bi- 
gotted,  vindictive  and  cunning,  and  in  every  way 
unsuited  to  the  English  race,  who  love  openness 
and  candor,  and  who  would  far  sooner  endure  the 
yoke  of  such  a  bold,  reckless  despot  as  Henry 
VIIL,  than  submit  to  the  much  less  extensive  ty- 
ranny of  such  an  one  as  Philip  the  Spaniard.    . 

It  mattered  little  to  Mary,  whether  the  people 
liked  the  match  or  not ;  she  had  a  due  proportion 
of  her  father's  iron  will,  and  notwithstanding  a 
serious  rebellion  was  excited  by  this  Spanish 
match  ;  notwithstanding  the  general,  almost  uni- 
versal dislike  of  the  nation  to  the  alliance,  she 
made  up  her  mind  to  the  marriage,  and  it  w^as 
consummated,  July,  25th,  1554.     Mary  was  at 


PUBLIC    DISCUSSIONS.  145 

this  time  thirty-nine  years  of  age,  and  Philip,  her 
husband,  twenty-seven. 

The  convocation  met  at  the  same  time  with 
parUament.  Most  of  the  members  (having  been 
chosen  with  this  view,)  were  in  favor  of  the  po- 
pish doctrines,  and  only  six  could  be  found  bold 
enough  to  be  willing  to  stand  up  manfully  and  con- 
tend for  the  truth  of  the  principles  of  the  Refor- 
mation. By  the  first  act  of  the  convocation,  the 
Prayer  Book  was  denominated  an  abominable 
book,  and  declared  to  be  heretical,  because  it 
denied  transubstantiation.  The  catechism  shared 
the  same  fate.  The  discussions  in  public  were 
very  warm  and  earnest,  and  as  might  be  expect- 
ed, the  matter  was  decided  by  force  of  numbers 
rather  than  by  strength  of  argument.  So  little 
fairness  was  shown  towards  the  Reformers,  that 
they  were  borne  down  by  clamor  and  indecent 
shouting  and  railing,  till  at  last,  after  three  days 
endurance  of  the  storm,  they  yielded  in  despair 
of  obtaining  a  fair  hearing.  Weston,  dean  of 
Westminster,  the  prolocutor,  summed  up  with  a 
brutal  taunt ;  for  when  the  Reformers,  declaring 
that  the  Scriptures  were  in  their  favor,  exclaimed 
— "  if;e  have  the  Word;^^ — "yes,"  was  the  reply, 
"  but  ive  have  the  sivord.^^     Most  keenly  was  it 


146  REFORMATION  IN  ENGLAND. 

soon  felt,  that  the  sword  of  persecution  was  un- 
sheathed, and  the  scabbard  cast  away. 

In  1554,  the  bishops  were  enjoined  to  enforce 
the  canons  against  heretics,  and  for  the  removal 
of  married  clergy  from  their  preferments.  Seve- 
ral thousands  of  the  clergy  were  thus  harshly  de- 
prived, amongst  whom  were  the  archbishop  of 
York,  and  the  bishops  of  Bristol,  Chester  and  St. 
D  avid' s.  Three  other  bishops  were  degraded  on 
the  charge  of  heresy ;  so  that  there  were  now 
sixteen  sees  vacant,  which  were  immediately 
filled  by  zealous  partisans  of  Romanism. 

About  the  middle  of  April,  the  queen,  by  the 
advice  of  Gardiner,  determined  upon  having  a 
public  disputation  at  Oxford,  at  which  the  chief 
of  the  Reformers  should  be  obliged  to  attend,  and 
under  the  show  of  discussion,  the  cause  of  popery 
be  triumphantly  established.  Accordingly,  the 
archbishop,  Ridley  and  Latimer,  who  had  all,  to 
throw  indignity  upon  them,  been  thrust  into  the 
same  room  in  the  common  prison,*  along  with 
Bradford,  the  martyr,  were  brought  forth  to  un- 
dergo an  ordeal,  in  many  respects,  more  severe 


*  "  Bocardo,  is  a  stinking,  filthy  prison  for  drunkards  and  harlots, 
aad  the  vilest  sort  of  people." — Bishop  Ridley,  Letter  to  Bradford. 


GROSS    UNFAIRNESS.  147 

even  than  that  of  the  stake.  The  disputation  was 
respecting  these  three  points  : — 1.  Whether  the 
natural  body  of  Christ  be  really  in  the  sacra- 
ment ?  2.  Whether  any  other  substance  remain, 
after  the  words  of  consecration,  than  the  body  of 
Christ  ?  3.  Whether  in  the  mass  there  be  a  sa- 
crifice and  propitiation  for  the  sins  of  the  quick 
and  dead  1  They  were  not  allowed  either  time, 
books  or  friendl}^  intercourse,  or  any  thing  else 
which  could  enable  them  to  prepare  to  enter  upon 
so  weighty  a  discussion. 

Cranmer,  as  being  the  acknowledged  head  of 
the  Reformers,  was  brought  forth  first;  and  dur- 
ing the  long,  weary  hours,  from  eight  in  the  morn- 
ing till  two  in  the  afternoon,  this  venerable  divine, 
"his  meek,  sensitive,  tender-hearted  old  man,  was 
jrow-beaten,  reviled,  and  insulted  by  foul- 
oiouthed  and  ignorant  men,  hissed  at  and  clam- 
ored against  by  the  prejudiced  and  blinded  as- 
semblage. His  learning  and  ability  were  of  no 
service^  at  such  a  time  and  before  such  an  au- 
dience ;  for  even  if  they  had  allowed  him  to  be 
heard,  it  would  not  have  changed  the  result ;  they 
had  already  made  up  their  minds  to  convict  him 
and  claim  a  victory. 

The  next  day  Ridley  appeared  before  the  com- 
missioners.    He  was  in  the  prime  of  his  years 


148  REFORMATION   IN   ENGLAND. 

and  the  full  vigor  of  his  faculties;  and  although' 
he  was  compelled  to  bear  with  the  same  indecent 
usage  as  that  shown  to  the  archbishop,  he  never- 
theless made  a  glorious  defence  of  the  principles 
of  the  Reformation,  and  equally  astonished  and 
confounded  his  opponents,  by  the  depth  and 
wonderful  variety  of  his  learning,  by  his  thorough 
knowledge  of  all  the  points  in  dispute,  and  by 
his  noble  bearing  under  contumely  and  insult. 

The  third  day  witnessed  a  scene  far  more 
distressing.  Good  old  Hugh  Latimer,  bending 
under  the  weight  of  fourscore  years,  broken 
down  by  age  and  infirmity,  and  actually  sick  at 
the  time,  was  led  out  to  undergo  his  share  of  the 
bitter  pains  and  buffetings  in  store  for  the  Refor- 
mers. He  refused  utterly  to  attempt  to  dispute, 
and  having  handed  in  a  paper  expressing  in  short 
his  views  on  the  topics  before  them,  he  made  an 
appeal  to  the  prolocutor,  which  one  would  think 
w^ould  have  softened  the  stoniest  heart:  "  Good 
master,  I  pray  be  good  to  an  old  man  ;  you  may, 
if  it  please  God,  be  once  as  old  as  I  am ;  you 
may  even  come  to  this  age  anddebiHty;"  but 
all  in  vain:  taunts,  hisses,  laughter,  and  such 
like  were  the  reply  which  these  mad  and  brutal 
fanatics  made  to  so  affecting,  so  touching  an  ap- 
peal.    May  God  forgive  us  if  we  be  wrong,  but 


MALICE    DEFEATED.  149 

we  can  never  read  of  this  scene  without  a  burst 
of  indi2:nation. 

In  the  present  case,  as  in  many  others,  malice 
overreached  itself.  The. very  violence  and  fierce- 
ness of  the  attack  on  the  one  hand,  backed  by  all 
the  power  of  the  crown,  and  the  patient,  firm, 
Christian  endurance  on  the  other,  though  the 
tortures  and  the  fire  were  in  full  view  as  the  sure 
result,  caused  a  reaction  in  the  minds  of  the  more 
sober  of  the  popish  party,  and  nerved  many  a 
trembling  heart  to  bear  all  things  for  the  sake 
of  the  truth.  It  was  surprising — especially  so 
to  the  worldly  Avise — how  the  courage  of  the 
Reformers  rose,  and  how  their  hearts  revived  at 
the  example  of  these  great  and  good  bishops. 
And  the  manifest  injustice  of  their  condemnation, 
which  was  paraded  forth  with  all  the  show  which 
it  was  possible  to  give  it,  disgusted  many,  and 
led  them  to  doubt  w^hether  a  cause  could  be  good 
which  required  such  measures  to  uphold  it. 

The  marriage  of  the  queen  produced  a  short 
respite  for  those  who  had  offended  the  vindictive 
princess ;  and  it  deserves  to  be  recorded  to  the 
credit  of  Philip — be  his  motive  what  it  may — 
that  he  interfered  and  saved  the  princess  Eliza- 
beth from  an  ignominious  end,  which  her  own 
sister  had  marked  out  for  her.     Still,  there  was 


150  REFORMATION  IN  ENGLAND. 

no  stopping,  in  the  onward  course  toward  Rome ; 
nay,  rather,  there  was  indecent  haste  to  restore 
the  customs,  practices  and  tenets  of  popery. 
Cardinal  Pole,  at  the  earliest  moment,  came  to 
England  as  the  pope's  legate,  and  at  the  request 
of  parliament  and  the  convocation,  he  formally 
absolved  the  nation,  and  received  it  once  more 
into  the  bosom  of  the  self-styled  "  mother  and 
mistress  of  all  Churches."  All  the  acts  of  late 
years  against  the  Roman  see  were  repealed,  and 
every  thing  was  restored  to  its  former  condition, 
except  in  respect  to  one  important  point,  viz., 
that  of  the  church  lands.  So  many  had  been 
concerned  in  the  spoil  and  robbery  of  the  Church's 
property,  that  it  was  quite  useless  to  expect  them  , 
to  give  up  their  ill-gotten  wealth.  So  the  matter 
was  not  pressed.  The  queen  alone — to  her  honor 
be  it  recorded — restored  to  the  Church  all  the 
lands  which  were  at  the  royal  disposal,  and  dis- 
charged the  clergy  from  the  pa3^ment  of  first  fruits 
and  tenths.  If  it  had  been  demanded,  absolutely, 
that  every  thing  should  be  given  up,  it  is  quite 
certain  that  popery  never  could  have  gone  a  step 
further,  and  not  even  the  tremendous  power  of 
the  crown  could  have  forced  so  unpalatable  a 
measure  upon  those  who  had  shared  in  the  spoils 
of  the  monasteries  and  churches.     The  severe 


CARDINAL    POLE.  151 

Statutes  against  the  Lollards  (followers  of  John 
Wickliffe)  and  other  heretics,  as  they  were  term- 
ed, were  also  re-enacted.  They  had  been  re- 
pealed in  1547.  These  acts,  and  some  additional 
ones  of  the  same  character,  strengthened  the 
hands  of  those  in  power,  and  gave  legal  sanction 
to  the  savage  persecution  which  the  next  year 
raged  throughout  England. 

We  may  here,  injustice  to  cardinal  Pole,  make 
mention  of  the  honorable  fact,  that  he  strongly 
disapproved  of  the  extreme  measures  which  were 
in  progress.  His  natural  feelings  of  humanity 
and  mercy  revolted  at  the  needless  cruelties  about 
to  be  practised,  and  his  good  sense  told  him  that 
this  was  no  way  to  bring  men  back  to  the  belief 
in  the  excellence  and  Christian  graces  of  the 
papal  system.  His  advice,  however,  was  re- 
jected, and  the  acute  Gardiner  joined  with  the 
brutal  Bonner,  in  recommending  a  course  which 
brought  disgrace  and  odium  upon  all  concerned 
in  it,  and  which,  as  we  shall  see,  resulted  far 
differently  from  what  was  expected.  The  im- 
portant events  of  the  following  3^ears  of  Maiy's 
reign,  rightly  demand  a  separate  chapter  to  be 
devoted  to  their  consideration. 


CHAPTER   VIII. 


A.  D.  1555—1558. 

Year  1555  memorable — persecution  set  on  foot — John  Rogers  pro- 
to-martyr — Laurence  Samiders — bishop  Hooper  martyred  at 
Gloucester — Rowland  Taylor  burnt — his  character — papists  dis- 
appointed—Ferrar,  Bradford,  Philpott  and  others  burnt— number 
of  the  martyrs  during  Mary's  reign — bishops  Ridley  and  Lati- 
mer burnt  at  Oxford — their  characters — Latimer's  last  words — 
Cranmer  reserved  a  while — cited  to  appear  before  the  pope — 
condemned  for  contmnacy — degraded  by  Bonner  and  Thirlby — 
Cranmer's  recantations — how  obtained — duplicity  of  the  queen 
and  court — malice  overshooting  the  mark — the  archbishop  re- 
tracts his  recantation — scene  in  St.  Mary's  church,  Oxford — 
Cranmer  burnt — Pole  made  archbishop — his  character — persecu- 
tion unabated — effect  of  this — universities  visited — doings  of  the 
visitors— Calais  taken — unpopularity  of  the  government — Mary's 
death — Pole's  death — character  of  Mary. 

The  year  1555  is  memorable  in  the  annals  of  the 
Reformation.  It  has  left  a  blot  upon  the  charac- 
ter of  Mary,  which  no  time  can  efface,  and  no  ef- 


ROGERS    PROTO-MARTYR.  153 

forts  of  apologists  ever  remove  ;  and  it  will  serve 
to  the  latest  days,  as  a  marvellous  and  bloody 
proof  of  what  popery  is  capable,  when  fully  car- 
ried out.  If  it  serve  not  also  to  set  forth  the 
"detestable  enormities"  of  tyranny  and  outrage 
of  which  Rome  has  been  guilty ;  and  if  it  serve 
not  to  warn  us  against  the  fatal  delusions  of  a  sys- 
tem which  is  never  changed,  and  boasts  that  it 
never  will  be,  then  the  voice  of  history  is  uttered 
m  vain,  and  our  humble  labors  are  throw^n  away. 

By  advice  of  Gardiner,  whom  the  remem- 
brance of  hardships  in  Edward's  reign  had  not 
tended  to  soften  or  render  merciful,  the  course  of 
severity  wa&  adopted,  and  such  persecution  was 
set  on  foot  as  disgraced  the  whole  popish  party, 
even  in  their  own  eyes,  and  rendered  the  govern- 
ment unpopular  to  an  extreme.  We  can  only 
briefly  note  the  horrors  of  this  eventful  and  bloody 
year. 

The  first  martyr  who  w^as  brought  to  the  stake 
for  denying  trans ubstantiatio^i,  was  John  Rogers, 
at  the  time  a  prebendary  of  St.  Paul's.  He  had 
been  educated  at  Cambridge,  and  afterwards  be- 
came chaplain  of  the  English  factory  at  Antwerp, 
and  also  aided  Tindal  and  Coverdale  in  trans- 
lating the  Bible,  (known  as  Matthew's  Bible.) 
While  abroad,  he  married,  and  was  blessed  with 
8 


154  REFORMATION  IN  ENGLAND. 

a  large  family,  which  he  brought  with  him  to 
England,  when  Edward's  accession  rendered  it 
safe  for  married  priests  to  reside  in  their  own 
country.  Ridley  gave  him  a  prebendal  stall  in 
St.  Paul's,  and  a  divinity  lectureship  in  that  ca- 
thedral. He  was  among  the  first  apprehended 
when  Mary  came  to  the  throne,  and  steadily  main- 
taining the  truth,  he  was  condemned  to  the  flames, 
after  more  than  a  year's  imprisonment,  among 
the  common  filth  of  Newgate.  Gardiner  and 
Bonner,  with  characteristic  brutality,  refused  to 
let  Rogers  see  or  speak  to  his  wife  and  family, 
so  that  as  he  was  on  his  way  to  Smithfield's  fire 
and  torture,  the  heart-rending  spectacle  was  wit- 
nessed of  a  mother  with  an  infant  at  the  breast, 
and  ten  weeping  children  come  out  to  obtain  the 
last  blessing  of  a  husband  and  father.  Bravely 
did  Rogers  bear  himself  through  this  sore  trial, 
nobly  did  he  spurn  the  offer  of  life  if  he  would 
recant,  and,  as  it  were,  washing  his  hands  in  the 
flames,  he  met  death,  calmly,  resolutely,  glori- 
ously.    This  was  on  the  4th  of  February. 

The  second  martyr  was  Laurence  Saunders, 
also  educated  at  Cambridge,  and  passionately  de- 
voted to  learning.  In  Edward's  reign,  he  mar- 
ried and  obtained  preferment  in  the  Church.  He 
was  so  zealous  and  active  in  the  discharge  of  the 


SAUNDERS    AND    HOOPER.  155 

duties  of  his  sacred  office,  that  he  was  early 
marked  out  as  a  victim.  Bonner  demanded  his 
opinion  of  transubstantiation.  He  gave  it,  with- 
out hesitation,  in  writing,  saying,  at  the  same 
time, — "  my  lord,  ye  do  seek  my  blood,  and  ye 
shall  have  it.  I  pra}^  God,  that  ye  may  be  so 
baptized  in  it,  that  ye  may  hereafter  loathe  blood- 
sucking, and  become  a  better  man!"  He  was 
cast  into  prison,  kept  there  for  fifteen  months,  not 
allowed  to  see  his  wife,  and  at  last,  on  the  8th 
of  February,  was  sent  to  the  stake  at  Coventry. 
He  died  as  he  had  lived,  earnest,  zealous,  faith- 
ful, full  of  hope  and  peace. 

On  the  next  day.  Hooper  was  ordered  to  Glou- 
cester to  undergo  the  same  fearful  trial.  Ever 
since  Mary's  accession,  he  had  looked  forward  to 
this  last  scene  as  the  almost  certain  end  of  his 
career.  Nor  was  he  disappointed.  His  trial 
was  like  that  of  the  other  martyrs  ;  neither  mer- 
cy nor  kindness  found  place  in  the  bosoms  of  his 
persecutors,  and  he  was  abused  in  the  most  in- 
decent manner  because  he  had  been  married. 
After  having  been  treated  with  shameless  bar- 
barity in  prison,  exposed  to  dampness  a,nd  foul 
air,  so  that  lie  well  nigh  escaped,  by  death,  the 
torture  of  the  stake,  he  was  brought  forth,  de- 
graded at  tlie  same  time  with  Rogers,  and  led 


156  REFORMATION  IN  ENGLAND. 

out  to  execution.  It  was  meant  as  an  additional 
cruelty,  the  sending  him  to  the  place  where  he  had 
labored  so  faithfulh^,  but  in  truth,  it  was  really 
thought  kindness  by  Hooper.  He  rejoiced  to 
bear  iestimony  among  his  own  people,  even  unto 
death,  of  the  truth  of  what  he  had  taught  them. 
It  was  a  market  day  on  which  he  suffered,  and 
about  seven  thousand  persons  were  present. 
Many  a  one  was  glad  and  took  courage  at  the  sight 
of  the  constanc}^  of  this  noble  martyr,  who, 
though  he  lingered  in  the  midst  of  agony  for  three 
quarters  of  an  hour  ere  death  came,  only  cried 
aloud,  "  Lord  Jesus,  have  mercy  upon  me!" 
and  with  a  patience  worthy  the  man  of  God, 
passed  through  the  flames  unto  his  eternal  re- 
ward. O,  wdio  can  tell  what  glory  opened  upon 
his  view  in  the  paradise  of  God  ! 

The  very. same  day — the  notable  9th  of  Fe- 
bruary— Rowland  Taylor,  the  illustrious  pro- 
genitor of  the  still  more  illustrious  Jeremy  Tay- 
lor, laid  down  his  life  for  the  cause  of  divine 
truth.  His  life  and  ministry  form  one  of  the  most 
interesting  and  touching  pieces  of  biography 
which  can  be  found  any  where,  and  we  beg  our 
readers,  if  they  possibly  can,  to  turn  to  the  pages 
of  good  old  John  Fox's  Book  of  Martyrs,  and 
read  in  full,  what  we  can  only  now  briefly  relate. 


ROWLAND    TAYLOR.  1B7 

Taylor  was  a  bold,  fearless,  frank,  open- 
hearted,  liberal-minded  man ;  not  more  remarka- 
ble for  his  wit  and  pleasantry,  than  for  his  ardent 
piety  and  devotion  ;  and  not  more  humble  before 
God  than  courageous  before  man.  He  had  been 
chaplain  in  Cranmer's  household,  but  when  ap- 
pointed to  the  parish  of  Hadley,  in  Suffolk,  he 
immediately  devoted  himself  to  the  special  du- 
ties of  the  priestly  office,  and  so  successful  was 
he,  that,  by  God's  grace,  his  people  were  well 
taught  in  the  Holy  Scriptures,  and  eminent  for 
piety  and  consistency  of  life. 

Gardiner,  as  usual,  resorted  to  foul-mouthed 
abuse,  when  Taylor  was  brought  before  him, 
charging  it  against  him  as  a  crime,  that  he  was 
married.  "  I  thank  God,  I  am,"  was  his  reply, 
"and  have  had  nine  children."  He  was  con- 
demned to  die,  and  having  been  degraded  by 
the  brutal  Bonner,  with  uncalled-for  harshness 
and  insolent  bitterness,  he  was  brought  out  of 
prison,  where  he  had  lain  nearly  two  years,  and 
sent  to  the  stake.  None  of  the  martyrs  had  more 
sympathy  shown  towards  him  than  Taylor,  none 
seems  to  have  been  more  beloved  of  the  people, 
and  none — sad  is  it  to  say — was  treated  with 
so  much  brutality  and  cruelty  as  the  parson  of 
Hadley,  by  those  who  attended  to  his  execution. 


158  REFORMATION  IN  ENGLAND. 

While  at  the  stake,  a  fellow  threw  a  faggot  which 
cut  his  face  so  that  the  blood  ran  down, .  and 
shortly  after,  another  suddenly  smote  him  on  the 
skull  with  a  halberd,  and  the  body  fell  forward 
in  death.  Such  was  the  end  of  the  mortal  career 
of  this  valiant  man  of  God. 

Grievous  was  the  disappointment  of  the  popish 
party  at  the  effect  of  these  blood-thirsty  proceed- 
ings. They  supposed  that  such  a  course  would 
have  stricken  terror  into  the  Reformers,  and 
crushed  the  spirit  of  the  opponents  of  Romish 
corruptions ;  but  it  turned  out  far  otherwise. 
The  Reformers  grew  strong  through  suffering  : 
the  people  were  forcibly  struck  with  the  sight  of 
their  courage,  constancy,  and  ardent  piety ;  and 
the  outrageous  tyranny  which  condemned  the 
learned,  eloquent  and  noble  preachers  of  the 
truth  to  death  on  the  most  frivolous  chars^es,  filled 
the  whole  community  with  amazement,  indigna- 
tion, and  disgust.  Gardiner  and  his  savage 
abettors,  mortified  and  confounded,  stayed  their 
hands  a  while,  not  well  knowing  what  to  do.  A 
few  weeks'  respite  only  was  granted,  and  the  fires 
were  kindled  anew,  to  burn  with  increased  fury. 

We  have. neither  space  nor  inclination  to  dwell 

could  not,  were  we  so  disposed,  adequately  de- 


NUMBER  OF  THE  MARTYRS.       159 

scribe  the  horrors  of  these  bloody  days.  An  evil 
spirit  of  savage  barbarity  and  headlong  thirsting 
for  slaughter,  seemed  to  pervade  the  papal  party, 
and,  with  Bonner  at  the  head,  they  stuck  at 
nothing  so  that  they  might  wreak  their  vengeance 
on  the  Reformers.  Ferrar,  bishop  of  St.  David's, 
Bradford,  prebendary  of  St.  Paul's,  Philpott, 
archdeacon  of  Winchester,  and  many  others, 
both  clergy  and  laity,  in  the  upper  and  lower 
walks  of  life,  were  brousfht  to  the  stake  during- 
this  3^ear :  neither  learning  nor  ignorance  availed, 
since,  indiscriminately,  the  well-learned  and  the 
deplorably  ignorant  were  consigned  to  the  flames, 
on  the  same  charges. 

It  may  seem  almost  incredible,  but  it  is  never- 
theless true,  that  during  the  first  ten  months  of 
the  year,  1555,  no  less  than  seventy-two  persons 
of  all  ranks,  ages,  and  of  both  sexes,  were  burned 
at  the  stake,  because  they  denied  papal  infalli- 
bilit}'",  and  refused  to  believe  in  the  dogma  of 
transubstantiation.  It  may  also  be  mentioned 
here,  that  this  was  the  average  number  of  mar- 
tyrdoms during  each  year  of  Mary's  reign ;  so 
that  from  February,  1555,  to  September,  1558, 
according  to  the  statement  of  lord  Burleigh,  two 
hundred  and  ninety  persons  were  burned  alive, 
and  nearly  a  hundred  more  died  by  imprison- 


100  REFORMATION  IN  ENGLAND. 

ment,  cruel  usage  and  famine.  A  most  dreadful 
catalogue  !  who  can  imagine  that  to  be  the  re- 
ligion of  the  blessed  and  compassionate  Saviour, 
Avho  "  went  about  doing  good,"  when  such  were 
its  fruits  ?  May  God  in  His  mercy  deliver  His 
Church  from  popish  usurpation  and  tyranny ! 

In  October  of  this  year,  Ridley  and  Latimer, 
the  intimate  friends  and  most  efficient  supporters 
of  Cranmer,  were  doomed  to  the  fiery  trial 
through  which  so  many  had  to  pass.  Ridley 
was  well-born,  being  of  a  good  stock  in  North- 
umberland. His  reputation  as  a  scholar  was 
very  high,  and  he  was  master  of  Pembroke  col- 
lege, Cambridge,  where  he  was  greatly  beloved. 
Henry  raised  him  to  the  bishopric  of  Rochester, 
and  Edward  translated  him  to  the  see  of  London. 
Few  equalled  him  in  learning,  none  excelled  him 
in  sagacity  ;  his  kindliness  of  heart,  and  his  en- 
larged liberality  were  beyond  all  praise,  and  his 
powerful  influence  in  setting  forward  the  Refor- 
mation was  felt  throughout  the  whole  realm. 

Latimer  was  of  more  humble  origin  and  pos- 
sessed of  qualities  w^hich  fitted  him  for  laboring 
more  especially  among  the  people,  wdth  whom 
he  was  deservedly  a  great  favorite.  Of  respect- 
able acquirements  and  great  natural  shrewdness, 
and  power  of  addreas,  he  was  very  successful  in 


RIDLEY  AND    LATIMER.  161 

spreading  abroad  the  doctrines  of  the  Reforma- 
tion, and  was  a  valuable  assistant  to  the  arch- 
bishop. Henry  elevated  him  to  the  see  of  Ro- 
chester, which  Latimer  resigned  when  the  odious 
act  of  the  Six  Articles  was  passed,  and  when 
afterwards  he  might  have  taken  his  bishopric 
again,  he  declined,  and  spent  the  rest  of  his 
time  with  Cranmer  at  Lambeth. 

The  place  of  execution  was  at  Oxford ;  after 
suffering  every  kind  of  indignity  and  insult,  they 
were  brought  to  the  stake ;  bravely  did  they 
comfort  one  another  and  pray  together,  ere  the 
fire  came  at  them.  The  words  of  Latimer  at 
the  moment  a  lighted  faggot  was  thrown  at  his 
feet,  are  memorable  and  well  nigh  prophetic  : — 
"  Be  of  good  comfort,  master  Ridley,  and  play 
the  man ;  we  shall  this  day  light  such  a  candle, 
by  God's  grace,  in  England,  as  I  trust  shall 
never  be  put  out."  The  venerable  old  man  suf- 
fered but  a  short  time,  but  Ridley's  tortures  and 
agony  were  horrible  and  long  continued.  At 
last  relief  came,  and  his  soul  sped  away  to  join 
the  noble  army  of  martyrs  awaiting  him  in  the 
mansions  of  bliss.  May  it  be  our  lot  to  stand  at 
his  side  in  the  last  great  day  of  account ! 

It  was  a  very  subtle  stroke  of  policy — whether 
so  intended  or  not — on  the  part  of  those  who 


162  REFORMATION  IN  ENGLAND. 

managed  this  dreadful  persecution,  not  to  bring 
the  venerable  archbishop  to  the  stake  at  the 
same  time  with  Ridley  and  Latimer.  Their 
courage  and  constancy  would  have  aided  in 
strengthening  and  supporting  him  in  the  hour  of 
trial  and  torture,  and  his  sun  would  have  set  in 
glory  unclouded,  and  his  fair  fame  been  unsullied 
by  a  single  stain ;  but,  alas !  this  was  not  per- 
mitted ;  such  arts  were  used,  such  despicable 
treachery  employed,  as  ensnared  the  aged  ser- 
vant of  God,  and  he  fell  from  his  steadfastness 
May  we  learn  a  lesson  from  this  instructive  page 
in  history ! 

Ridley  and  Latimer,  as  above  stated,  suffered 
at  the  stake,  October  16th,  1555  ;  but  Cranmer 
was  retained  in  prison.  Being  archbishop  and 
primate  of  all  England,  he  had  been  cited  to 
appear  at  Rome  before  the  pope  within  eighty 
days,  which  he  was  very  ready  to  do,  but  his 
jailors  took  good  care  that  he  should  not  pass  his 
prison  doors ;  and,  absurd  as  it  may  appear, 
when  the  eighty  days  had  elapsed,  he  was 
gravely  condemned  for  contumacy  in  not  answ^er- 
ing  the  summons  of  the  pope  !  Immediately 
after,  on  the  4th  of  December,  he  was  sentenced 
to  excommunication,  deprived  of  the  archbish- 
opric, and  cardinal  Pole  put  in  charge  of  the  see 


cranmer's  recantation.  163 

of  Canterbury ;  and  on  the  14th  of  February, 
1556,  he  was  degraded  by  the  papal  delegates, 
Bonner  and  Thirlby,  and  treated  with  most 
cruel  insolence  by  Bonner,  whose  churlish  spirit 
seemed  to  revel  in  such  scenes  as  this. 

The  succeeding  history  relating  to  Cranmer's 
fall  and  the  recantations  which  he  signed, 
is  not  a  little  intricate  and  perplexing,  and  the 
whole  transaction  is  involved  in  so  great  mystery, 
that  it  is  doubtful  if  it  will  ever  be  fully  cleared 
up.  The  facts  appear  to  be  as  follows  : — within 
two  days  of  the  events  just  recorded,  it  is  stated 
that  the  courageous  archbishop,  who  was  ready 
to  go  to  the  stake  at  once,  was  induced  to  sign 
no  less  than  four  different  papers  of  submission 
or  recantation,  for  the  purpose  of  saving  his  life  ; 
neither  of  them  however,  being  explicit  enough 
to  satisfy  his  enemies.  Accordingly  a  new  scheme 
was  devised.  He  was  taken  out  of  prison,  invited 
to  spend  his  time  with  learned  men  at  the  deanery 
of  Christ's  church,  and  in  various  respects  per- 
mitted to  enjoy  the  sweets  of  life  and  liberty. 
Meanwhile,  artful  emissaries  were  set  to  work  to 
accomplish  his  ruin ;  they  said  to  him  it  was  a 
great  pity  that  so  venerable,  learned,  and  godly 
a  man  should  die  by  the  fire,  that  the  queen  was 
merciful,  that  his  life  would  be  spared  if  he  took 


164  REFORMATION  IN  ENGLAND. 

any  pains  to  propitiate  her,  and  that  he  might 
spend  the  remainder  of  his  days  in  learned  ease 
and  retirement  if  he  would  only  confess  his  errors 
and  jdeld  to  the  wishes  of  the  queen.  All  this 
and  much  more  of  the  same  kind  was  said  to 
him,  and  it  seems  to  have  had  its  effect ;  he  wdio 
was  proof  against  hardships,  torments  of  famine 
and  prison,  insults  and  scoffs,  gradually  gave  way 
before  kind  treatment  and  seductive  speeches, 
and  signed  a  fifth  paper  of  recantation,  full  and 
explicit,  denying  all  that  his  previous  life  and 
writings  had  so  earnestly  maintained.*  A  few 
days  afterwards  he  was  sent  to  the  stake ! 

Now,  we  hope  our  readers  will  notice  particu- 
larly, the  meanness  and  treachery  of  this  w^hole 
proceeding.  Cranmer's  death  had  all  along  been 
determined  on,  and  they  knew  it  well  who  were 
seeking  to  undermine  his  integrity,  by  holding 
out  hopes  of  escape  from  death.  To  save  his 
life  he  denied  the  truth,  which  at  heart  he  always 
believed  ;  threats  and  promises  were  alternately 
presented  to  him,  and  up  to  the  very  last,  the  in- 
sidious wiles  of  the  tempter  were  put  in  force  to 
sink  him,  if  possible,  lower  than  ever,  before  he 
perished  by  the  fire.     What  base  lying  and  de- 

*  See  Appendix. 


HIS  RETRACTION  AND  DEATH.      165 

ceptioii  was  this  !  What  despicable  conduct  for 
bishops,  clergy,  doctors  and  nobles  !  Who  can 
look  without  scorn  on  men  who  give  good  words 
with  their  mouths,  while  they  are  stabbing  their 
victim  to  the  heart? 

But  their  malice  overshot  the  mark  :  the  great 
and  good  man — -greal  and  good,  though  fallen — 
when  he  knew  that  death  w^as  near,  recoiled  in 
horror  from  the  duplicity  which  had  been  used  to- 
wards him,  and  was  filled  with  the  deepest  an- 
guish and  remorse  for  his  weakness  and  cowardly 
yielding  to  temptation  :  his  spirit  revived ;  his 
supplications  for  grace  and  strength  were  an- 
swered, and  he' nobly  atoned  for  his  fall. 

On  the  21st  of  March,  as  had  for  days  been 
arranged  on,  he  was  taken  to  St.  Mary's  church, 
Oxford,  to  listen  to  a  sermon  before  his  death, 
and  to  proclaim  there  his  ignominious  desertion 
of  the  cause  of  reform.  The  papists  were  ex- 
ulting over  his  downfall,  but  he  disappointed  their 
expectation.  In  the  deepest  distress,  shedding 
many  tears,  and  sobbing  like  a  child  in  his  sor- 
row, he  offered  up  his  pra3'ers,  and  addressed  the 
people,  warning  and  urging  them  to  their  duty  to 
God  and  to  man.  His  address  was  closed  in 
words  which  struck  his  hearers  dumb  :  "  Now,  1 
come  to  the  great  thing  thnt  troubleth  my  con- 


166  REFORMATION  IN  ENGLAND. 

science  more  than  any  other  thing  that  ever  I 
said  or  did  in  my  life  :  and  that  is  the  setting 
abroad  of  writings  contrary  to  the  truth,  which 
here  now  I  renounce  and  refuse,  as  things  writ- 
ten with  my  hand,  contrary  to  the  truth  w^hich  I 
thought  in  my  heart,  and  writ  for  fear  of  death, 
and  to  save  my  hfe,  if  it  might  be  ;  wherein  I 
have  written  many  things  untrue.  And  foras- 
much, as  my  hand  offended  in  writing  contrary 
to  my  heart,  therefore,  my  hand  shall  first  be 
punished.  For  if  I  may  come  to  the  fire  it  shall 
first  be  burned.  And  as  for  the  pope,  I  refuse 
him,  as  Christ's  enemy  and  antichrist,  with  all 
false  doctrine." 

The  amazement  and  consternation  of  the  as- 
sembly were  so  great,  that  Cranmer  found  time 
to  get  through  with  his  retraction  before  he  was 
interrupted  :  then  their  furious  reproaches  knew 
no  bounds.  They  hastened  him  to  the  place  of 
execution  ;  the  fire  was  kindled,  and  the  venera- 
ble old  man,  fastened  to  the  stake,  thrust  his  right 
hand  into  the  flames,  exclaiming,  "This  hand 
hath  offended — this  unworthy  right  hand!"  and 
there  he  held  it  till  it  was  consumed,  and  there 
patiently,  firmly  he  stood,  till  the  fire  did  its 
work,  with  eyes  raised  to  heaven,  and  calling 
aloud,  "Lord  Jesus,  receive  my  spirit !" 


POLE    ARCHBISHOP.  167 

O  ye  who  have  fallen  from  your  steadfastness, 
take  courage  by  this  example,  and  fight  your  way 
back  again  to  truth  and  honor  ;  yea,  even  though 
your  path  lay  through  the  fiery  flame  ;  and  as 
for  you  who  by  God's  grace. stand  in  your  up- 
rightness, take  heed  lest  ye  fall.  *'  Be  not  high- 
minded,  but  fear." 

The  martyrdom  of  Cranmer,  which  is  un- 
doubtedly to  be  attributed  to  the  vindictive  and 
unrelenting  spirit  of  the  queen,  was  succeeded  on 
the  next  day  by  the  consecration  of  cardinal  Pole 
as  archbishop  of  Canterbury.  In  several  respects, 
his  character  stands  in  strong  relief  to  that  of  the 
savage  persecutors  of  Mary's  reign,  though  there 
is  no  doubt,  that  he  approved  in  general  of  the 
course  pursued  by  the  government,  and  was  most 
intemperate  and  violent  in  his  language  towards 
those  who  favored  reform.  He  seems  to  us  to 
have  been,  like  his  royal  mistress,  a  sincere  bigot, 
and  to  have  carried  out  legitimately  the  principles 
of  the  Romish  Church  ;  with  him,  to  deny  the  pa- 
pal supremac}'-  and  Romish  dogmas,  w^as  equiva- 
lent to  denial  of  the  whole  truth  of  the  Gospel, 
and  for  heretics  he  neither  had  nor  expressed  any 
compassion ;  yet  natural  humanity  told  him,  in 
spite  of  his  passionate  devotion  to  Rome,  that 
cruelty  and  bloodshed  illy  consorted  with  the  re- 


16S  REFORMATION    IN    ENGLAND. 

ligion  of  the  merciful  Saviour.  Had  his  coun- 
sels alone  been  followed,  it  is  probable  that  va- 
rious improvements  would  have  been  introduced, 
and  needful  reform  in  life  and  manners  put  inforre 
among  the  popish  clergy,  and  though  persecution's 
fires  would  not  have  gone  out,  they  w^ould  have 
burned  less  furiously  and  less  indiscriminately. 
Persecution,  however,  continued  unabated, with 
rather  increasing  malignity  during  the  whole  of 
Mary's  reign ;  and  the  consequence  was,  as 
Southey  in  his  Book  of  the  Chnrch  well  remarks, 
"that  as  the  havoc  which  had  been  committed 
under  pretext  of  the  Reformation,  made  the  peo- 
ple rejoice  in  the  re-establishment  of  popery,  so 
popery  was  by  these  cruelties  rendered  an  object 
of  horror  and  hatred  to  the  nation.  Persons, 
whom  neither  books  nor  sermons  would  have 
reached,  were  converted  to  the  Protestant  faith 
by  the  constancy  with  which  the  martyrs  suffered. 
A  subject  to  which  they  would  otherwise  have 
remained  indifferent,  was  forced  upon  their 
thoughts,  and  they  felt  that  the  principle  could 
be  of  no  light  importance  for  v^hich  so  many 
laid  down  their  lives." 

The  next  year,  1557,  commenced  with  the  vi- 
sitation of  the  two  universities,  in  w^hich  some 
needful   reforms  were  introduced.     One   of  the 


CLOSE  OF  Mary's  career.  169 

chief  employments,  however,  of  the  visitors  was 
painfully  absurd.  They  dug  up  the  bones  of  Bu- 
cer  and  Fagius,  at  Cambridge,  and  burnt  them, 
because  their  former  owners  had  been  heretics, 
and  those  of  Peter  Martyr's  wife  (at  Oxford,) 
they  buried  in  a  dung-heap,  because  she  had  died 
excommunicated  !  It  would  have  been  well  had 
they  spent  their  impotent  malice  on  such  sub- 
jects as  these  ;  but  that  would  hardly  have  con- 
tented them.  They  burned  and  made  away 
with  living  men  and  women,  of  all  ranks  and 
conditions ;  and  more  than  this,  from  the  same 
source,  about  this  time,  England  came  very  near 
being  saddled  with  the  Inquisition  and  all  its 
horrors.  Thanks  be  to  God,  that  project  fell 
throuoh  with. 

o 

On  the  1st  of  January,  1558,  Calais,  the  last 
principal  strong-hold  of  the  English  on  the  conti- 
nent, was  taken  by  the  French,  chiefly,  it  w^ould 
seem,  through  the  culpable  negligence  of  the 
government  in  not  furnishing  supplies.  This 
catastrophe  gave  the  finishing  stroke  to  the  un- 
popularity of  the  government  of  Mary,  and  the 
whole  nation  groaned  under  the  weight  of  op- 
pression at  home  and  disgrace  abroad.  The 
queen,  herself,  seems  to  have  taken  the  loss  of 
Calais  much  to  heart,  and  during  the  course  of 


170  REFORMATION  IN  ENGLAND. 

the  year  her  health  rapidly  dechnecl.     All  hope 
of  offspring  had  been  given  up,  though  at  one 
time  there  was  every  prospect  of  so  inauspicious 
an  event ;  and  she  herself,  treated  with  cruel  in- 
difference by  her  disappointed  husband,  under 
great  suffering,   and   retaining  her  blinded  and 
bigotted  notions  to  the  last,  ended  her  inglorious 
reign,  November  17th,  1558.   Within  a  few  hours 
cardinal  Pole  followed  her  to  his  eternal  account. 
Mary's   character  is  a   chequered  one.     Sin- 
cerity in  her  religious  views  we  freely  accord  to 
her ;   her  voluntary  sacrifices  fully  prove  this ; 
and  we  cannot  but  compassionate  her  hard  lot  in 
earher  days.     It  is  not  to  be  wondered  at  that 
her  temper  became  soured  and  morose,  when  we 
consider  how  many  long  years  she  was  under 
restraint  and  in  actual  danger;    nor  that  she  so 
brooded  over  her  wrongs,  that  when  she  came  to 
the  throne,  vindictiveness  marked  her  course  to- 
wards those  who  had  offended  her.     Evil  coun- 
sellors urged  her  on :    she  deemed  it  a  matter  of 
duty  to  extirpate  heretics  and  to  restore  the  popish 
rehgion  at  any  and  all  hazards.     The  detestable 
maxims  of  those  who  kept  in  subjection  the  con- 
sciences of  queens  as  well  as  subjects,  effectually 
quieted  any  scruples  vvhich  might  have  suggested 
themselves  as  to  the  lawfulness  and  policy  of  this 


Mary's  character.  171 

sanguinary  course.  So  much  blood  was  shed 
during  the  reign  of  Mar}^,  the  sufferings  of  the 
people  were  so  extensive,  and  the  loss  and  ruin 
of  property,  health  and  happiness,  were  so  wide 
spread,  that  her  name  is  associated  with  all  that 
is  horrible  and  repulsive.  The  impartial  voice 
of  history  will  always  point  to  this  memorable 
period  as  the  reign  of  "  bloody  Mary,"  and  as 
an  exemplification  of  popery  in  all  its  naked  de- 
formity and  loathsomeness. 


CHAPTER   IX. 


A.  D.  1558—1563. 

Elizabeth's  accession — ker  great  popularity — hopes  and  expectations 
raised — character  and  policy  of  the  queen — decidedly  in  favor 
of  the  Reformation,  yet  cautious — wisdom  of  her  measures — 
contrast  between  Mary's  and  Elizabeth's  course — crowned  by  the 
bishop  of  Carlisle — Romish  bishops  refuse  to  join  n  the  ceremo- 
ny— acts  of  parliament — supreme  governor — public  discussion — 
bishops  deprived — clergy  take  the  oath — Parker  archbishop — his 
consecration — Nag's  Head  fable — poverty  of  clergy — low  state 
of  learning — Jewell's  apology — acts  of  convocation — articles 
adopted — second  book  of  Homilies — Reformation  substantially 
completed — conclusion. 

The  death  of  queen  Mary  was  a  providential 
deliverance.  It  was  so  regarded  by  the  nation  at 
large,  since  none  lamented  her,  none  manifested 
even  the  appearance  of  sorrow  for  her  loss.  "  She 
died  in  the  morning ;  in  the  afternoon,  the  bells  of 


Elizabeth's  accession.  173 

all  the  churches  in  London  were  rung  for  the  ac- 
cession of  Elizabeth,  and  at  night  bonfires  were 
made,  and  tables  set  out  in  the  streets,  at  which 
the  citizens  caroused  :"* — so  odious  had  her  short 
and  in2:lorious  reisfn  become,  and  so  detestable  in 
the  eyes  of  the  English  people,  was  the  long  and 
cruel  persecution  which  she  sanctioned  and 
uro;ed  on. 

Elizabeth  came  to  the  throne  with  the  tide  of 
popular  feeling  most  strongly  and  decidedly  in 
her  favor.  Her  accession  was  hailed  on  all  sides 
with  joy  and  exultation,  and  the  extreme  unpopu- 
larity of  the  last  reis^n,  served  to  throw  additional 
brilhancy  around  that  which  was  just  commen- 
cing with  so  auspicious  prospects.  In  the  excess 
of  joy,  the  most  exalted  hopes  were  entertained, 
the  most  sanguine  expectations  raised,  and  the 
wildest  and  most  chimerical  plans  broached  on  a 
great  variety  of  subjects,  particularly  in  relation 
to  religion.  It  was  confidently  thought  and  said, 
that  now  reform  might  be  carried  on  to  its  fullest 
extent,  and  the  Church  purged  thoroughly  of  the 
papal  leaven  of  corruption  ;  and  many  over-zea- 
lous persons,  not  well  considering  what  they  were 
doing,  were  for  proceeding  at  once  to  extremi- 

*  Southey's  Book  of  the  Church,  '^lian.  xiv 


174  REFORMATION    IN    ENGLAND. 

ties  with  popish  practices,  observances  and  doc- 
trines. 

Not  so  did  the  youthful  queen  think  or  act.  She 
was  a  very  wise  and  a  cautious  person,  and  not  at 
all  disposed  to  hasty  measures  or  rash  steps, 
even  in  the  matter  of  reform.  The  many  years 
of  probation  through  which  she  had  passed,  when 
a  single  mistake,  a  single  unwary  word  or  two,  a 
single  inconsiderate  act,  would  almost  certainly 
have  been  her  ruin,  had  rendered  her  cool  in 
judgment,  calm  in  her  feelings,  and  exact  in  the 
expression  and  firm  in  the  maintenance  of  her 
wishes.  She  knew  both  her  strength  and  her 
weakness,  and  she  determined  on  such  a  line  of 
conduct  as  would  increase  the  one  and  diminish 
the  danger  of  the  other,  even  though  she  was  well 
aware,  that  by  such  a  course,  she  would  give  of- 
fence to  the  zealots  of  both  parties.  No  ill-con- 
sidered proceedings  were  to  be  allowed  ;  no  line 
of  policy  which  would  alienate  the  feelings  of  her 
subjects,  more  than  possibly  could  be  avoided, 
was  to  be  thought  on  for  a  moment ;  and  in  her 
pubhc  and  private  acts,  she  steadily  adhered  to 
this  determination.  Thus  she  gained  the  confi- 
dence of  the  sober,  sensible,  and  substantial  por- 
tion of  the  community,  w^ithout  whose  aid  she 
could  not  have  maintained  herself,  or  raised  Eng- 


Elizabeth's  policy.  175 

land  to  a  pitch  of  glory,  never  before  equalled  in 
the  annals  of  that  great  nation. 

Her  own  convictions  were  decidedly  in  favor 
of  the  Reformation,  and  she  from  the  first  deter- 
mined to  give  it  her  countenance  and  support. 
Yet,  she  w^as  far  from  intending  to  force  the  con- 
sciences of  her  subjects,  or  require  them  to  be- 
lieve as  she  did,  under  peril  of  fire  and  sword,  as 
had  been  the  case  in  Mary's  reign:  all  parties, 
both  papists  and  bigotted  protestants,  were  to  be 
kindly  and  tenderly  dealt  with,  and  their  scruples 
suffered  within  a  certain  limit ;  and  if  possible,  she 
earnestly  desired  to  embrace  in  the  reformed 
Church  of  England,  that  large  body  of  persons, 
who,  having  been  under  popish  influence  for 
years,  were  devotedly  attached  to  what  they  were 
told  was  Catholic  doctrine  and  practice.  The 
wisdom  of  her  measures  for  her  accomplishment 
of  this  end  is  worthy  of  especial  note,  particu- 
larly, as  it  was  the  very  reverse  of  the  course 
pursued  by  her  sister.  Mary,  bent  upon  restoring 
popery,  gave  her  subjects  the  choice  of  that  or 
death  :  conscience  was  no  plea  with  her:  the 
people  must  be  papists,  or  burn  at  the  stake  ; 
consequently,  her  whole  reign  was  full  of  horrible 
scenes  of  bloodshed  and  misery.  Elizabeth  was 
too  wise  and  too  merciful  to  enact  over  again  si- 


176  REFORMATION  IN  ENGLAND. 

milar  scenes  on  the  opposite  side  ;  she  would  force 
no  man's  conscience  ;  she  would  compel  no  one 
to  obedience  in  religious  matters,  by  threatening 
fire  or  sword,  and  visiting  these  dreadful  torments 
upon  the  recusants  ;  far  from  it :  she  thought  it 
better  to  proceed  cautiously  and  carefully,  to  take 
the  middle  ground,  to  remove  all  needless  and  of- 
fensive expressions  against  the  pope  and  Roman- 
ism, and  to  introduce  changes  gradually  and  after 
long  deliberation.  She  did  not  deviate  from  this 
line  of  policy,  until  actually  forced  so  to  do  ;  nor 
did  she  proceed  to  extremities  with  any,  till  trea- 
sonable practices  were  going  on  under  the  name 
of  religion.  When  the  pope  madly  and  wickedly 
required  the  Roman  Catholics  in  England  to  leave 
the  communion  of  the  Church,  where  they  had  re- 
mained in  peace  for  many  years;  when  the  detest- 
ible  society  of  the  Jesuits  had  sent  its  emissaries  to 
stir  up  strife  and  disaffection, not  against  theChurch 
only,  but  against  the  government ;  then  the  queen 
put  forth  the  strong  hand  and  punished  w^ith  se- 
verity. But  it  should  alwa3^s  be  remembered, 
that  no  woman  or  child — as  frequently  in  Mary's 
time — suffered,  and  no  man  was  put  to  death  by 
Elizabeth  for  his  religion  only. 

Such  being  her  wishes  and  views,  the  first  steps 
which  she  took  were  in  accordance  with  the  prin- 


CAUTIOUS  PROCEEDINGS.  177 

ciples.  she  had  laid  down  for  her  own  guidance. 
A  committee  was  appointed  to  examine  into  the 
service  of  Edward  VI.  :  they  proceeded  with  pru- 
dence and  care,  andakered  nothing  simply  for  the 
sake  of  alteration.  No  persons  were  allowed  to 
introduce  changes,  unsanctioned  as  yet  bylaw  ; 
and  though  the  public  service,  viz. — the  Litany, 
the  Lord's  Prayer,  the  Creed,  the  Gospel  and 
Epistle,  and  the  Ten  Commandments  were  in 
English,  yet  the  queen  would  not  suffer  any  to 
preach  or  expound  the  latter  until  such  time  as 
permission  was  granted  by  law.  She  took  early 
measures  for  the  settling  her  foreign  relations  on 
a  peaceful  footing,  so  as  to  give  her  more  time  to 
reoulate  affairs  at  home.     She  chose  wise  and 

o 

judicious  ministers  j  made  Sir  William  Cecil,  one  of 
the  greatestof  statesmen,  her  prime  minister,  and 
even  went  so  far  as  to  retain  in  the  privy  council 
twelve  of  those  who  had  served  Mary  in  the  same 
capacity :  on  all  occasions,  too,  she  sought,  by 
condescending  and  affable  manners,  to  render  her- 
self popular,  and  give  her  a  strong  hold  on  the 
affections  of  her  subjects. 

Elizabeth  was  crowned  by  Oglethorpe,  bishop 

of  Carhsle,  January  15th,  1559  ;  he  was  the  only 

one  of  the  Romish  bishops  who  would  consent  to 

take  part  in  the  ceremony,  a  proceeding  which  only 

9 


178  REFORMATION  IN  ENGLAND. 

exasperated  the  feelings  of  the  queen  against 
them,  and  did  no  good  whatever  to  the  cause 
which  they  wished  to  maintain.  The  parhament 
restored  the  queen's  authority  over  all  the  people, 
and  as  Elizabeth  scrupled  about  receiving,  and 
declined  the  title  of  "  Supreme  Head"  of  the 
Church,  it  was  altered  to  the  less  objectionable 
expression,  "  Supreme  Governor"  in  ecclesiastical 
affair^.  Her  authority,  however,  was  as  ample 
as  she  could  wish,  and  her  temporal  interests 
were  cared  for  in  a  way  most  prejudicial  to  the 
resources  of  the  Church.  The  act  of  uniformity 
was  also  passed  this  session,  and  the  Prayer  Book 
of  Edward  VI.  restored.  This  took  place  after  a 
discussion  held  in  Westminster  Abbey,  between 
the  popish  adherents  and  the  Reformers,  in  which 
discussion,  the  former  behaved  petulantly,  argued 
illy,  and  gave  up,  with  a  very  bad  grace,  on  the 
second  day.  On  the  whole,  this  public  trial  of 
strength  did  good,  because  every  one  naturally 
concluded  that  the  cause  must  be  weak  indeed, 
which  would  not  bear  one  or  two  day's  examina- 
tion. The  convocation,  which  was  held  at  the 
same  time,  manifested  a  strong  preference  for 
papistical  notions  and  errors. 

By  act  of  parliament,  all  the  clergy  were  re- 
quired to  take  the  oath  of  supremacy  under  pain 


Parker's  consecration.  179 

of  deprivation  :  the  bishops,  thinking  to  force  the 
queen  into  their  measures,  refused,  with  one  ex- 
ception, Kitchin,  of  LlandafF,  and  were  ejected 
from  their  sees  to  the  number  of  fourteen.  The 
other  orders  of  the  clergy,  amounting  in  all  to 
9,400,  thinking  probably,  that  they  could  do  better 
service  to  the  cause  of  popery,  by  keeping  their 
posts,  took  the  oath  readily,  only  one  hundred  and 
eighty-nine  out  of  this  number  declining. 

The  great  difficulty  now  was,  to  fill  up  the 
bishoprics,  vacant  by  deaths  and  deprivations, 
and  had  not  Elizabeth  been  able  to  look  to  those 
who  had  gone  abroad  in  Mary's  reign,  she  would 
have  been  placed  in  a  position  of  extreme  per- 
plexity and  uncertainty.  Providentially,  among 
the  exiles,  were  some  in  episcopal  orders  :  through 
these  the  succession  was  continued,  and  the  va- 
cant sees  filled  up.  Matthew  Parker  was  selected 
for  archbishop,  a  most  wise  choice,  and  the  other 
sees  were  filled  with  able  and  efficient  men. 
Parker  was  consecrated  at  Lambeth,  December 
17th,  1559,  by  Barlow,  late  bishop  of  Bath  and 
Wells,  then  elect  of  Chichester ;  John  Scory, 
late  bishop  of  Chichester,  then  elect  of  Hertford; 
Miles  Coverdale,  late  bishop  of  Exeter ;  and 
John  Hodgkins,  suffi'agan  bishop  of  Bedford ;  the 


180  REFORMATION  IN  ENGLAND. 

ceremony  being  performed  according  to  king  Ed- 
ward's ordinal.* 

The  scandalous-  spoliations  of  church  property 
during  the  preceding  reigns,  had  rendered  the 
clergy  extremely  poor,  and  so  diminished  the  re- 
venues of  the  Church,  that  it  was  witli  great  dif- 
ficulty that  persons  could  be  '  found  to  fill  the 
ranks  of  the  rtiinistry  to  any  advantage.:  the  state 
of  learning  in  the  universities  was  at  the  lowest 
ebb  ;  ^superstitions  reigned  where  ignorance  pre- 
vailed, and  numbers  were  ordp^ined  from,  the 
ranks  of  me-chanics  and  persons-  in  the  lower 
walks  of  fife,  good  and  well-intentioned  men  no 
doubt,  but  quite  Unfitted  for  the  duties  of  the  sta- 
tion to  which  they  had  been  advanced.  Parker, 
however,  soon  found  that  this  would  not  do,  and 
put  a  stop  to  so  unwise  a  course. 


*  The  contemptible  story  of  the  Nag's  Head  ordination,  got  up 
by  the  Romanists,  more  than  forty  years  after  the  event  o'  Parker's 
consecration,  is  hardly  worth  the  trouble  of  refuting,  more  especi- 
ally, since  Dr.  Lingard  himself,  the  popish  historian,  is  compelled  to 
reject  it  utterly  as  fabulous.  Every  once  in  a  while,  the  story  is 
revived,  as  was  the  case  a  short  tinle  ago,  a  popishlaishop  in  Phila- 
delphia, endeavoring  to  bolster  vip  the  exploded  fiction  ;  but  it  is 
tolerably  certain,  that  the  papists  themselves  do  not  believe  a  word 
of  it,  though  they  try  to  make  use  of  it  for  the  purpose  of  denying 
the  validity  of  the  orders  of  tiie  Church  of  England. 


THE  ARTICLES  ADOPTED.  181 

In  January,  1563,  parliament  again  met.  The 
bishops  seem  previously  to  have  been  actively 
engaged  in  the  duties  of  their  office,  and  in  pre- 
paring for  the  steps  now  about  to  be  taken.  The 
learned  and  eloquent  bishop  Jewel's  far-famed 
Apology  for  the  Church  of  England,  had  been 
issued  the  year  before,  and  was  then,  as  now,  re- 
garded as  authoritatively  expressing  the  views 
of  the  Church  which  it  defended  so  eloquently 
and  well.  The  convocation  met  at  the  same 
time,  and  after  a  full  and  thorough  discussion  and 
examination  of  the  forty-two  articles  of  Edward 
Sixth  reign,  the  number  of  thirty-nine  was  agreed 
upon  and  subscribed  by  both  houses.  They  were 
printed  in  Latin  and  English.  In  March,  the 
larger  Catechism,  as  revised  and  enlarged  by 
dean  Nowel,  was  approved  by  the  lower  house  of 
convocation.  It  is  the  Catechism  of  the  Prayer 
Book,  excepting  the  latter  portion  relating  to  the 
sacraments,  which  was  added  in  1604,  after  the 
Hampton  Court  Conference.  The  second  Book 
of  Homilies  was  printed  about  this  period.  Bishop 
Jewel  and  the  archbishop  had  the  principal  hand 
in  its  composition. 

With  the  establishment  of  these  articles  and 
documents  of  faith,  as  contained  in  the  Prayer 
Book,  we  may  consider  the  Church  of  England 


182  REFORMATION  IN  ENGLAND. 

to  have  attained  that  position  which  she  has  ever 
since  held.  Consequently,  here  the  history  of  the 
Reformation,  properly  speaking,  ends.  What 
subsequently  took  place,  in  Elizabeth's  reign,  such 
as  the  troubles  arising  out  of  the  pope's  bull,  which 
drove  off  many  of  the  Romanists,  who  had  con- 
tinued in  communion  with  the  Church  of  Ens^land 
up  to  this  time,  and  which  gave  rise  to  a  popish  sect 
in  England ;  the  painfully  vexatious  trials  which 
sprung  from  the  introduction  of  disputes  brought 
from  abroad,  and  which  were  the  fruitful  parent 
of  puritans,  non-conformists  and  sects  of  all  sorts 
and  descriptions  ;  the  severe  measures  of  Eliza- 
beth, to  produce  uniformity  and  conformity  ;  the 
necessity  of  capital  executions,  in  order  to  crush 
the  seditious  and  treasonable  practices  of  the  Je- 
suits and  others ;  and  similar  troubles  and  trials, 
come  not  within  the  scope  of  this  sketch  of  the 
English  Reformation;  for  though  they  all,  in  dif- 
ferent ways  it  is  true,  have  had  more  or  less 
effect  upon  the  tone  of  doctrine,  the  spirit  of  the 
clergy,  and  the  connection  of  the  Church  with 
the  state ;  though  they  have  raised  up  a  host  of 
enemies,  and  given  rise  to  evils  not  easy  to  be 
repressed  or  light  in  their  effects  upon  the  well- 
being  of  the  Church  of  England ;  though  they 
have  tended  to  retard  the  perfecting  of  that  good 


REFORMATION  AS  COMPLETED.  183 

work  which  the  Reformers  so  nobly  begun  and 
so  bravely  carried  on  ;  still  they  have  never  been 
able  to  produce  any  change  of  material  conse- 
quence, whether  in  the  doctrines  or  observances 
of  the  Church,  and  the  Prayer  Book  remains, 
and,  doubtless,  will  remain,  the  standard  of  doc- 
trine and  practice,  as  of  highest  authority  in  the 
Church,  next  after  the  Holy  Scriptures,  of  which, 
indeed,  it  is  to  be  regarded  as  the  sound  inter- 
preter. 


CONCLUSION. 


We  have  now  arrived  at  the  close  of  the  history 
of  the  Reformation.  We  might  safely  leave  the 
whole  subject  with  the  thoughtful  and  intelligent, 
assured  that  they  would  draw  right  conclusions 
from  what  has  been  laid  before  them.  We  shall, 
however,  even  at  the  risk  of  being  tedious,  beg 
the  indulgence  of  our  readers  a  few  moments, 
while  we  call  their  attention  to  some  points  which 
must  never  be  forgotten  by  us  who  are  the  in- 
heritors of  the  blessings  procured  for  the  Church 
by  the  labors,  prayers  and  deaths  of  the  Refor- 
mers. We  will  do  this  as  concisely  as  possible. 
1.  The  Reformation  was  absolutely  required. 
Corruption  had  gone  to  such  lengths  that  the 
present  state  of  things  could  continue  no  longer. 
The  faith  of  the  Church  as  contained  in  the  creeds 
had  been  added  to,  and  so  changed  by  numerous 


CONCLUSION.  185 

unscriptural  additions,  that  it  was  buried  out  of 
sight,  and  had  become  almost  wholly  inoperative 
and  unknown ;  and  the  worship  of  the  Church 
was  excessively  superstitious,  puerile,  and  hurtful 
to  the  souls  of  men. 

2.  The  Reformation  was  lawfully  conducted 
and  carried  through.  The  bishops  and  clergy, 
in  their  proper  capacity,  acted  as  the  ambassa- 
dors for  Christ  and  the  rulers  in  the  Church, 
and  deferred  in  all  things  to  Holy  Scripture  and 
ancient  authors.  Popish  novelties  were  cast  oH^ 
Catholic  truths  retained  and  maintained,  and  the 
Church  set  free  from  the  bondage  of  corrupt 
doctrine  and  abominable  practice. 

3.  The  Church  of  England  resumed  her  right- 
ful, original  authorit}^  to  regulate  her  own  affairs. 
The  Church  existed  in  Britain  in  apostolic  days, 
long  before  popery  was  dreamed  of.  By  degrees, 
the  bishop  of  Rome  usurped  dominion  over  in- 
dependent Churches,  England  being  of  the  num- 
ber. At  the  Reformation,  the  bishops  and  clergy, 
the  representatives  of  the  Church  of  England, 
with  hardly  an  exception,  asserted  and  maintained 
the  independence  of  the  Church  in  the  realm  of 
England,  and  renounced  the  pope's  supremacy. 

4.  Consequently,  in  acting  for  herself,  the 
Church  of  England  is  entirely  free  from  the  guilt 

9* 


1S6  REFORMATION    IN    ENGLAND. 

of  schism,  charged  upon  her  by  the  papists. 
She  is  equally  free  from  the  guilt  of  heretical  de- 
parture from  the  faith  once  delivered  to  the  saints 
— a  charge  which  is  so  justly  applicable  to  the 
Romish  Church — since  in  all  things  she  takes  the 
Holy  Scriptures  for  the  standard,  and  the  creeds 
of  the  Church  as  the  expression  of  the  true  faith. 

5.  Every  thing  was  done  deliberately,  cauti- 
ously and  resolutely.  The  Scriptures  were  trans- 
lated and  the  version  revised  and  improved  several 
times :  the  public  services  were  altered  as  httle 
as  might  be,  consistently  with  the  preservation 
of  sound  doctrine :  the  people  were  led,  step  by 
step,  into  the  clearer  light  of  Gospel  purity  and 
truth;  and  the  Prayer  Book,  w^hen  completed, 
was  resolutely  defended  against  both  popish  and 
puritan  attacks. 

6.  The  Church  of  England  was  reformed^  not 
founded  anew:   it  was   the   old^  original  Church 

with  the  corruptions  removed,  not  a  new  Church 
taking  its  start  at  this  date.  The  Church  was 
there  before  the  pope  ever  sent  to  England  or 
ever  claimed  authority  in  that  kingdom  :  it  con- 
tinued there  while  he  was  lording  it  over  it ;  and 
when  Providence  opened  the  way,  it  took  its 
rightful  position  once  more.  The  papists  charge 
it  upon  the  Church  that  it  began  with  Cranmer, 


CONCLUSION.  187 

and  Ridley,  and  Latimer,  and  some  Protestants 
use  similar  language.  Both  are  wrong,  the  one 
wickedly  so,  the  other,  perhaps  carelessly  so. 

7.  The  perpetual  interference  of  the  state  was 
in  reference  mainly  to  temporal  matters,  the  re- 
venues of  the  Church,  thejurisdiction  of  bishops, 
&c.  The  state  never  pretended  of  itself  to  settle 
doctrine  or  give  spiritual  office  and  power,  which 
are  derived  from  Christ  alone,  through  the 
channel  of  His  appointment.  Consequendy  the 
sneers  of  papists  and  others  are  without  cause, 
when  they  revile  the  Church  of  England  for  the 
share  which  the  state  took  in  the  Reformation. 

8.  The  Reformers  are  to  be  charitably  judged. 
Their  faults  were  the  faults  of  the  age  in  which 
they  lived,  and  their  errors  were  errors  of  judg- 
ment. The  great  work  which  they  did  is  not  to 
be  undervalued  on  the  one  hand,  nor  they  lauded 
too  highly  on  the  other.  They  labored  under 
difficulties  of  which  we  have  no  adequate  con- 
ception, and  they  accomplished  a  great  reform 
with  as  little  imperfection  as  can  be  expected  at 
the  hands  of  fallible  men.  Let  us  give  them  due 
honor  and  praise,  and  let  us  defend  them  from  all 
unjust  as  well  as  ungenerous  assaults. 

9.  The  Reformation  has  procured  for  us  reli- 
gious freedom.     It  has  unsealed  the  Fountain  of 


188  REFORMATION  IN  ENGLAND. 

divine  truth,  given  the  mind  liberty,  set  it  free 
from  popish  tyranny,  allowed  the  people  to  search 
into  the  Divine  Oracles,  required  nothing  to  be 
believed  as  essential  to  salvation  except  Avhat 
Holy  Scripture  contains,  and  bestowed  upon  us 
a  l)Ook  of  devotions  which  contains  the  noblest 
remains  of  antiquity,  and  the  most  glowing  as- 
pirations of  devout  souls  in  all  past  ages. 
•  Wherefore,  let  us  lay  to  heart  the  lessons  of 
warning  and  wisdom  which  the  history  of  this 
eventful  period  so  forcibly  teaches.  Let  us  render 
hearty  thanks  to  Almighty  God  that  He  conducted 
.safely  through  the  great  peril  of  fire  and  sword, 
the  Church  of  England,  to  whom  we,  Protestant 
Episcopalians,  owe  so  much,  and  whom  we  re- 
gard with  so  deep  and  true  affection.  Let  us, 
especially,  seek  to  show  our  appreciation  of  our 
manifold  blessings  and  privileges,  by  striving  to 
live  holy  and  consistent  lives,  in  all  godly  quiet- 
ness and  honesty.  Then  shall  we  truly  be  in- 
heritors of  the  blessing,  and  God  shall  visit  us 
for  good. 


^ 


APPENDIX. 


APPEND  IX. 

I. 

Glossary  of  I  erms. 

Altar,  the  place  on  which  gifts  or  sacrifices  are  offered 
to  God.  The  Lord's  table  is  figuratively  termed  an 
altar,  since  on  it  are  offered  to  God  the  symbols  of  the 
one  great  sacrifice  of  Christ  on  the  cross.  In  the 
early  Church,  for  three  hundred  years  or  more,  the 
Christian  altars  were  of  wood  :  stone  was  afterwards 
introduced,  and  since  the  papists  perverted  the  use  of 
them  to  support  the  dogma  of  transubstantiation,  they 
were  removed  and  tables  of  wood  substituted.     (See 

Vp.  114.) 

Annates,  the  first  fruits,  or  first  year's  income  of  bishop- 
rics and  benefices  :  they  were  paid  to  the  pope  by  every 
bishop  before  he  was  invested.  Subsequently,  they 
became  payable  by  the  clergy  in  general. 

Appeals,  were  made  to.the  pope  in  order  to  decide  cases  : 
by  this  means,  they  were  carried  out  of  England  and 
decided  at  Rome. 


192  APPENDIX. 

Auricular  Confession,  confession  made  in  private  to  the  . 
priest  as  a  matter  of  duty.     The  Romish  church  makes 
this  a  sacrament,  and  by  means  of  it  has   the   people 
completely  in  its  power. 

Bulls,  mandates  of  the  pope  of  Rome,  so  called  from  the 
seal  (bulla)  of  lead,  or  sometimes  of  gold,  affixed  to  it. 

Canons,  (1)  laws  of  the  Church  (2)  clergy  of  a  church 
or  cathedral.  The  Canons  Regular,  were  those  as- 
sembled in  convents,  and  living  under  the  rules  framed 
by  Augustine.  The  rest  of  the  clergy  were  called  Se- 
cular Canons, 

Canonry,  the  office  held  by  a  canon. 

Celibacy  of  the  clergy,  the  state  of  single  life  imposed 
upon  the  clergy  by  the  church  of  Rome. 

Chancellor,  a  bishop's  legal  adviser  and  assistant  in  set- 
tling causes  which  arise  in  a  diocese. 

Chantry,  a  little  chapel  or  particular  altar  in  a  cathedral 
church,  built  and  endowed  for  the  maintenance  of  a 
priest,  to  sing  masses  for  the  soul  of  the  founder  to 
redeem  it  out  of  pujgatory. 

Chapels  are  of  various  sorts— free  chapels  are  those 
founded  by  the  king,  and  exempted  from  episcopal  juris- 
diction. 

Chapter,  consists  of  the  dean,  with  a  certain  number  of 

canons  or  prebendaries. 
Convocation,  the  assembly  of  the  bishops  and  the  other 
clergy  of  the  Church  of  England,  to  consult  on  eccle- 
siastical affairs. 
Corporal  presence.     See  Transubstantiation. 
Dean,  the  chief  of  the  chapter  and  a  magistrate,  next  in 


APPENDIX.  193 

degree  to  the  bishop  :  so  called,  because  he  formerly 
presided  over  ten  prebendaries  or  canons,  {decanus, 
from  decern,  ten.) 

Deanery,  office  of  a  dean. 

Friars,  name  given  to  monks  of  all  orders.  They  are 
generally  distinguished  into  four  principal  branches  : — 
1.  Franciscans,  Minors,  or  Grey  Friars  ;  2.  Augus- 
tine ;  3.  Dominicans,  or  Black  Friars  ;  4.  Carmelites, 
or  White  Friars. 

Heresy,  a  denial  of  the  faith,  as  it  is  contained  in  the 
creeds  and  standards  of  the  Church. 

Holy  Water,  water  blessed  by  the  priest,  and  placed  in  a 
shallow  basin  at  the  entrance  of  the  church.  The 
people  cross  themselves  with  it  on  going  into  or  leaving 
the  church. 

Images,  figures  made  of  wood,  stone  or  metal,  represent- 
ing the  Saviour,  the  Holy  Trinity,  the  Virgin  Mary, 
the  saints,  &;c. 

Jurisdiction,  the  authority  given  by  the  king  to  exercise 
the  office  of  bishop  in  a  particular  diocese  :  jurisdic- 
tion depends  on  the  state  ;  the  offi^ce  of  the  bishop  is 
derived  from  Christ  Himself. 

Legate,  (pope's,)  a  cardinal  sent  by  the  pope  to  act  in  his 
stead  in  a  foreign  country.  He  absolved  the  excom- 
municated, called  s}Tiods,  granted  dispensations,  filled 
up  vacant  benefices,  heard  appeals,  .&;c. 

Martyr,  one  who  lays  down  his  life  for  religion. 

Mass,  masses,  (Latin,  missa,)  the  form  of  celebrating  the 
holy  communion  in  the  Romish  church.  The  popish 
doctrine  on  this  point  is,  that  our  Saviour   is  offered 


194  APPENDIX. 

anew  as  a  sacrifice  by  the  priest,  at  every  celebration 
of  the  Eucharist.  Masses  are  said  to  be  effectual  for 
the  dead  as  well  as  the  living. 

Mendicants,  begging  friars.  They  travel  from  place  to 
place  and  live  by  contributions. 

Metropolitan,  the  bishop  who  presides  over  the  other 
bi  shops  of  a  province. 

Monastery,  a  convent  or  house  for  monks,  mendicant  fri- 
ars and  nuns.  Abbey,  priory,  nunnery  and  the  like, 
are  equivalent  in  meaning. 

Penance,  some  punishment  or  discipline  imposed  by  the 
priest  on  penitents. 

Peter^s-pence,  an  annual  tribute  of  one  penny,  paid  at 
Rome,  out  of  every  family,  at  the  feast  of  St.  Peter. 

Pilgrimage,  a  journey  made  to  some  holy  place  in  order 
to  adore  the  relics  of  some  deceased  saint.  They 
were  excessively  frequent  in  the  middle  ages. 

Pope,  the  supreme  head  of  the  Romish  church.  An- 
ciently, all  bishops  were  called  popes  (or  fathers) ;  af- 
terwards the  bishop  of  Rome  usurped  it  to  himself  alone. 

PrcBmunire,  a  law  term  given  to  a  species  of  offence  in 
the  nature  of  a  contempt  against  the  king  and  his  go- 
vernment. The  name  is  derived  from  the  first  words 
of  the  writ,  preparatory  to  a  prosecution  for  the  offence. 
This  statute  was  made  to  restrain  encroachments  of 
Romish  clergy.  Henry  VIII.  used  it  as  a  tremendous 
engine  of  persecution. 

Prebend,  stipend  or  salary  of  a  prebendary. 

Prebendary,  a  clergyman  attached  to  a  cathedral  or  col- 
legiate church. 


APPENDIX.  195 

Primate,  same  as  metropolitan :  the  archbishop  of  Can- 
terbury is  primate  of  all  England,  the  archbishop  of 

York  is  primate  of  England. 
Regulars,  those  who  observe  the  three  vows  of  poverty, 

chastity  and  obedience. 
Relics,  remains  of  bodies  or  clothes  of  saints  or  martyrs  : 

they  are  kissed,  revered,  carried  in  procession,  in  fact, 

worshipped. 
Sacramentaries,  those  who  believed  with  Zuingle,  the 

Swiss  Reformer,  that  consubstantiation  (Luther's  doc- 
"  trine,)  is  false.     They  held  the  Eucharist  to  be  a  mere 

commemoration. 
Schism,  dividing  the  body  of  the  Church,  breaking  off 

from  its  communion,  and  of  course,  losing  the  privileges 

which  it  enjoys. 
Shrine,  the  place  where   something  sacred,  or  a  relic  is 

deposed  it. 
Supremacy ;  the  bishop  of  Rome  claims  to  be  supreme 

over  all  bishops  and  Churches.     (See  p.  24.) 
Synod,  a  meeting  of  the  clergy,  generally  of  a  province 

or  kingdom. 
Transubstaniiation,  (See  pp.  30,  108, 109,  199.) 


11. 

Translations  of  the  Bible. 

A.  D. 

706.  Adhelm,  Saxon  Psalms. 
721.  Egbert's  Four  Gospels. 
734.  Bede's  St.  John's  Gospel. 


196  APPENDIX. 

A.  D. 

880.  Alfred's  Version  of  the  Psalms. 
1340.  RoUe's  (or  Hampole's)  Psalms,  &;c. 
1380.  Wickliffe's  Bible. 
1526.  Tyndale's  New  Testament. 

1530.  "         Pentateuch. 

1531.  "         Jonas. 
G.  Joye,  Isaiah. 

1534.  ' '        Jeremiah,  Psalms,  Song  of  Moses. 

1535.  Coverdale's  Bible. 

1537.  Matthew's  Bible  {i.  e.  J.  Rogers's.) 

1539.  Great  Bible  (Cranmer's.) 

Taverner's  Bible. 

1560.  Geneva  Bible. 

1568.  Bishop's  Bible  (Parker's.) 

1582.  Rhemes  New  Testament. 

1609.  Douay  Bible. 

1611.  Authorized  Version  (the  one  now  in  use.) 


Romish  versions. 


III. 

Dates  relative  to  the  Prayer  Book. 

1545.  The  King's  Primer,  printed  by  authority. 

1548.  Communion  Service. 

1549.  First  Liturgy  of  Edward  VI.  published. 

1550.  First  Ordination  Service  published. 
1552.  Second  Liturgy  of  Edward  VI. 

Second  Ordination  Service. 
1560.  Liturgy  of  Elizabeth. 


APPENDIX.  197 

A.   D. 

1604.  Alterations  introduced  by  James  I. 

1633.         "  "  by  James  I.  and  Charles  I. 

1661.  Last  revision.     Authorized  Liturgy. 


IV. 

The  three  Creeds  so  often  spoken  of"  in  the  course  of 
the  History  of  the  Reformation  are — the  Apostles'  Creed, 
the  Nicene  Creed,  (both  in  the  American  Prayer  Book,) 
and  the  Athanasian  Creed,  (in  the  English  Prayer  Book.) 
The  Creed  of  the  Romish  Church,  as  established  by  the 
Council  of  Trent,  (a.  d.  1552)  commonly  called  the  Creed 
of  Pope  Pius  IV ,  is  as  follows  : — 

I.  N.  believe  and  profess  firmly  each  and  every  thing 
which  is  contained  in  the  symbol  of  faith  which  the  holy 
Roman  Church  uses,  viz.  : — 

I  believe  in  one  God,  the  Father  Almighty,  Maker  of 
heaven  and  eafth,  and  of  all  things  visible  and  invisible  :• 

And  in  one  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  the  only  begotten  Son 
of  God,  begotten  of  his  Father  before  all  worlds  ;  God  of 
God,  Light  of  Light,  very  God  of  very  God,  begotten, 
not  made,  being  of  one  substance  with  the  Father,  by 
whom  all  things  were  made  ;  who  for  us  men,  and  for  our 
salvation,  came  down  from  heaven,  and  was  incarnate  by 
the  Holy  Ghost  of  the  Virgin  Mary,  and  was  made 
man,  and  was  crucified  also  for  us  under  Pontius  Pilate. 
He  suffered  and  was  buried,  and  the  third  day  he  rose 
again,   according  to  the   Scriptures,  and  ascended  into 


198  APPENDIX. 

heaven,  and  sitteth  on  the  right  hand  of  the  Father ;  and 
he  shall  come  again,  with  glory,  to  judge  both  the  quick 
and  the  dead  ;  whose  kingdom  shall  have  no  end. 

And  I  believe  in  the  Holy  Ghost,  the  Lord  and  giver 
of  life,  who  proceedeth  from  the  Father,  and  the  Son  ; 
who  with  the  Father  and  the  Son  together  is  worshipped 
and  glorified,  who  spake  by  the  prophets.  And  I  believe 
one  catholic  and  apostolic  Church.  I  acknowledge  one 
baptism-^or  the  remission  of  sins  ;  and  I  look  for  the  re- 
surrection of  the  dead,  and  the  life  of  the  world  to  come. 
Amen. 

The  apostolic  and  ecclesiastical  traditions,  and  the  other 
observances  and  constitutions  of  the  same  Church,  1  most 
firmly  admit  and  embrace. 

I  also  admit  the  holy  Scripture,  according  to  that  sense 
which  holy  mother  the  Church  has  held  and  does  hold,  to 
whom  it  belongs  to  judge  of  the  true  sense  and  interpreta- 
tion of  holy  Scriptures.  Nor  will  I  ever  receive  and  in- 
terpret it  but  according  to  the  unanimous  consent  of  the 
Fathers. 

I  also  profess  that  there  are  truly  and  properly  seven 
sacraments  of  the  new  law,  instituted  by  Jesus  Christ 
our  Lord,  and  necessary  for  the  salvation  of  mankind, 
though  not  all  for  every  one,  namely,  baptism,  confirma- 
tion, the  eucharist,  penance,  extreme  unction,  order,  and 
matrimony ;  and  that  they  confer  grace  ;  and  that  of  these, 
baptism,  confirmation,  and  order,  cannot  be  repeated 
without  sacrilege.  I  also  receive  and  admit  the  received 
and  approved  ceremonies  of  the  Catholic  Church  in  the 
solemn  administration  of  all  the  aforesaid  sacraments. 


APPENDIX.  199 

I  embrace  and  receive  all  things  and  every  thing  de- 
fined and  declared  by  the  holy  council  of  Trent  concern- 
ing  original  sin  and  concerning  justification. 

I  equally  profess  that  in  the  mass  there  is  offered  to 
God  a  tme,  proper,  and  propitiatory  sacrifice  for  the  living 
and  the  dead  :  and  that  in  the  most  holy  sacrament  of  the 
eucharist  there  are  truly,  really,  and  substantially,  the 
body  and  blood,  together  with  the  soul  and  divinity,  of  our 
Lord  Jesus  Christ  ;  and  that  a  conversion  is  made  of  the 
whole  substance  of  the  bread  into  His  body,  of  the  whole 
substance  of  the  wine  into  His  blood :  which  conversion 
the  Catholic  Church  calls  transubstantiation. 

I  confess  also,  that  under  one  kind  only,  Christ  whole 
and  entire,  and  a  true  sacrament,  is  received. 

I  constantly  hold  that  there  is  a  purgatory,  and  that  the 
souls  there  detained  are  helped  by  the  suffrages  of  the 
faithful. 

And  likewise,  that  the  saints  reigning  together  with 
Christ  are  to  be  worshipped  and  invoked  ;  and  that  they 
offer  prayers  to  God  for  us  :  and  that  their  relics  are  to 
be  worshipped. 

I  most  firmly  assert  that  the  images  of  Christ,  and  of 
the  mother  of  God,  ever  a  virgin,  and  also  ot  the  other 
saints,  are  to  be  had  and  retained ;  and  that  due  honor 
and  worship  is  to  be  given  them. 

I  also  affirm  that  the  power  of  indulgences  was  left  by 
Christ  in  the  Church  ;  and  that  the  use  of  them  is  most 
wholesome  to  Christian  people. 

I  acknowledge  the  Holy,  Catholic,  and  Apostolic  Ro- 
man Church,  the  mother  and  mistress  of  all  Churches  ; 


200  APPENDIX. 

and  I  promise  and  swear  true  obedience  to  the  bishop  of 
Rome,  the  successor  of  St.  Peter,  the  prince  of  the  apostles, 
and  vicar  of  Jesus  Christ. 

And  all  other  things  delivered^  defined,  and  declared 
by  the  sacred  canons,  and  the  general  councils,  and  es- 
pecially by  the  holy  council  of  Trent,  I  receive  without 
doubting,  and  profess :  and  withal,  all  things  contrary 
thereto,  and  all  heresies  whatsoever,  condemned,  and 
rejected,  and  accursed  by  the  Church,  I  equally  condemn, 
reject,  and  accurse. 

This  is  the  true  Catholic  faith,  (out  of  which  no  man 
can  be  saved,)  which  at  this  time  I  ireely  profess  and 
unfeignedly  hold — and  that  I  will  be  careflil  most  con- 
stantly (with  God's  help)  to  hold  fast  and  confess  the 
same,  entire  and  inviolate,  to  the  very  last  breath  of  life, 
and  that,  to  the  utmost  of  my  pov/er,  it  be  held,  taught, 
and  preached,  by  those  put  under  me,  or  such  as  I  shall 
have  charge  over  in  my  calling,  I,  the  said  iV.,  promise, 
vow,  and  swear.  So  help  me  God,  and  these  holy  Gos- 
pels of  God  ! 


V. 

Oaths  of  bishops  io   the  Jang  and  pope. 

In  the  text  we  have  spoken  briefly  of  the  protest  which 
Cranmer  made  when  he  took  the  customary  oath  to  the 
pope.  It  will  be  convenient  and  show  the  need  of  some 
protestation  or  other  on  the  part  of  a  bishop,  to  have  at 
hand  the  oaths  which  were  taken  by  every  bishop  both  to 


APPENDIX.  201 

the  pope  and  the  king.  Very  probably  our  readers  will 
think,  that  the  only  difierence  between  the  archbishop  and 
his  compeers  was,  that  he  was  more  honest  than  they, 
and  unwilling  to  take  oaths  so  diametrically  opposed  to 
each  other,  without  letting  it  be  clearly  understood,  that 
he  should  regard  himself  bound  in  all  respects  by  his 
oath  to  the  king.  The  sentences  in  italic  are  worthy  of 
special  note. 

1.  Oath  to  the  pope  : — 

I,  John,  bishop  or  abbot  of  A,,  from  this  hour  forward, 
shall  be  faithful  and  obedient  to  St.  Peter,  and  to  the  holy 
church  of  Rome,  and  to  my  lord  the  pope  and  his  suc- 
cessors canonically  entering.  I  shall  not  be  of  counsel 
nor  consent  that  they  shall  lose  either  life  or  member,  or 
shall  be  taken,  or  suffer  any  violence  or  any  wrong,  by 
any  means.  Their  counsel  to  me  credited  by  them,  their 
messengers,  or  letters,  I  shall  not  willingly  discover  to 
any  person.  The  papacy  of  Rome,  the  rules  of  the  holy 
fathers,  and  the  regality  of  St.  Peter,  I  shall  help  and 
maintain,  and  defend  against  all  men.  The  legate  of  the 
see  apostolic,  going  and  coming,  I  shall  honorably  entreat. 
The  rights,  honors,  privileges,  authorities,  of  the  church 
of  Rome,  and  of  the  pope  and  his  successors,  I  shall 
cause  to  be  conserved,  defended,  augmented,  and  pro- 
moted. I  shall  not  he,  in  council,  treaty,  or  any  act  in 
ivhich  any  thing  shall  be  imagined  against  him,  or  the 
church  of  Rome,  their  rights,  seats,  honors,  or  powers. 
And  if  I  know  any  such  to  be  moved  or  compassed,  I 
shall  resist  it  to  my  power,  and  as  soon  as  I  can  I  shall 
advertise  him,  or  such  as  may  give  him  knowledge.     The 


202  APPENDIX. 

rules  of  the  holy  fathers,  the  decrees,  ordinances,  sen- 
tences,  dispositions,  reservations,  provisions,  and  com- 
mandments, apostolic,  to  my  power  I  shall  keep,  and 
cause  to  be  kept  of  others.  Heretics,  schismatics,  and 
rebels  to  our  holy  father  and  his  successors  I  shall  resist 
and  persecute  to  my  power.  I  shall  come  to  the  synod 
when  I  am  called,,  except  I  be  letted  by  a  canonical  im- 
pediment. The  thresholds  of  the  apostles  I  shall  visit 
yearly,  personally,  or  by  my  deputy.  I  shall  not  alienate 
or  sell  my  possessions,  without  the  pope's  counsel.  So 
God  help  me  and  the  holy  evangelists. 

2.    Oath  to  the  king  : — 

I,  John,  bishop  of  A.,  utterly  renounce,  and  clearly  for- 
sake, all  such  clauses,  words,  sentences,  and  grants,  which 
I  have,  or  shall  have,  hereafter  of  the  pope's  holiness,  of 
and  for  the  bishopric  of  A.,  that  in  anywise  hath  been,  is, 
or  hereafter  may  be  hurttul  or  prejudicial  to  your  highness, 
your  heirs,  dignity,  privilege,  or  estate  royal.  And  also 
I  do  swear,  that  I  shall  be  faithful  and  true,  and  faith  and 
truth  I  shall  bear  to  you,  my  sovereign  lord,  and  to  your 
heirs,  kings  of  the  same,  of  life  and  limb,  and  yearly  wor- 
ship, above  all  creatures,  for  to  live  and  die  for  you  and 
yours,  against  ail  people.  And  diligently  I  shall  be  at- 
tendant to  ail  your  needs  and  business,  after  my  wit  and 
power,  and  your  counsel  I  shall  keep  and  hold,  knowledg- 
ing  myself  to  hold  my  bishopric  of  you  only,  beseeching 
you  of  restitution  of  the  temporalities  of  the  same,  pro- 
mising, as  before,  that  I  shall  be  a  faithful,  true,  and  obe- 
dient subject  to  your  said  highness,  heirs,  and  successors, 
during  my  life,  and  the  services  and  other  things  due  to 


APPENDIX.     ,  20S 

your  highness,  for  the  restitution  of  the  temporalities  of 
the  said  bishopric,  I  shall  truly  do,  and  obediently  perform. 
So  God  help  me,  and  all  saints. 


VI. 

Cranmer^s  Recantations. 

The  archbishop  is  said  to  have  made  six  different  re- 
cantations within  the  space  of  only  a  few  days  :  the  first 
four  are  far  from  being  express,  and  could  have  given  little 
satisfaction  to  the  papists  :  the  sixth  is  excessively  abject 
and  wordy,  and  was  probably  written  by  cardinal  Pole  ; 
the  fifth  is  the  one  usually  quoted,  and  is  translated  by 
Fox  as  follows  : — 

I,  Thomas  Cranmer,  late  archbishop  of  Canterbury 
do  renounce,  abhor,  and  detest  all  manner  of  heresies  and 
errors  of  Luther  and  Zuinglius,  and  all  other  teachings 
which  are  contrary  to  sound  and  true  doctrines.  And  I 
believe  most  constantly  in  my  heart,  and  with  my  mouth, 
I  confess,  one  holy  and  Catholic  Church  visible,  without 
the  which  there  is  no  salvation,  and  thereof  I  acknowledge 
the  bishop  of  Rome  to  be  supreme  head  in  earth,  whom  I 
acknowledge  to  be  the  highest  bishop  and  pope,  and 
Christ's  vicar,  unto  whom  all  Christian  people  ought  to 
be  subject.  And  as  concerning  the  sacraments,  I  believe 
and  worship  in  the  sacrament  of  the  aUar  the  very  body 
and  blood  of  Christ,  being  contained  most  truly  under 
the  forms  of  bread  and  wine,  the  bread  through  the  mighty 
power  of  God  bemg  turned  into  the  body  of  our  Saviour 


204  APPENDIX, 

Jesus  Christ,  and  the  wine  into  His  blood.  And  in  the 
other  six  sacraments  also,  like  as  in  this,  I  believe  and 
hold  as  the  universal  Church  holdeth,  and  the  Church  of 
Rome  judgeth  and  determineth.  Furthermore,  I  believe 
that  there  is  a  place  of  purgatory,  where  souls  departed 
are  punished  for  a  time,  for  whom  the  Church  doth  godlily 
and  wholesomely  pray,  like  as  it  doth  honor  saints,  and 
maketh  prayers  to  them.  Finally,  in  all  things  I  profess, 
that  I  do  not  otherwise  believe  than  the  Catholic  Church, 
and  the  Church  of  Rome,  holdeth  and  teacheth.  1  am 
sorry  that  I  ever  held  or  thought  otherwise.  And  I  be- 
seech Almighty  God,  that  of  His  mercy  He  will  vouch- 
safe to  forgive  me  whatsoever  I  have  offended  against 
God  or  His  Church ;  and  also  I  desire  and  beseech  all 
Christian  people  to  pray  for  me.  And  all  such  as  have 
been  deceived  either  by  my  example  or  doctrine,  I  require 
them  by  the  blood  of  Jesus  Christ  that  they  will  return 
to  the  unity  of  the  Church,  that  we  may  be  all  of  one 
mind  without  schism  or  division.  And  to  conclude,  as  I 
submit  myself  to  the  Catholic  Church  of  Christ,  and  to 
the  supreme  head  thereof,  so  I  submit  myself  unto  the 
most  excellent  majesties  of  Philip  and  Mary,  king  and 
queen  of  this  realm  of  England,  &;c.,  and  to  all  their 
laws  and  ordinances,  ])eing  ready  always  as  a  faithful  sub- 
ject ever  to  obey  them.  And  God  is  my  witness,  that  I 
have  not  done  this  for  favor  or  fear  of  any  person,  but 
willingly,  and  of  my  own  mind,  as  well  to  the  discharge  of 
my  o^A^l  conscience  as  to  the  instruction  of  others. 

Per  me  Thomam  Cranmer. 
Witnesses  to    )  Frater  Johannes  de  Villa  Garcina. 
this  subsc7iptiony  5  Henricus  Sydall. 


APPENDIX.  ^OS 

VII. 

List  of  Books  on  the  Reformation^ 

Which  may  be  consulted  with  advantage  by  those  who 
wish  flirther  information  on  the  points  briefly  treated  of 
in  this  volume  : — 

Bishop  Burnet's  History  of  the  Reformation,  3  vols.  8vo. 

Bishop  Short's  History  of  the  Church  of  England,  one 
vol.  8vo. 

Rev.  I.  J.  Blunt's  Sketch  of  the  Reformation  in  En- 

gland,  one  vol.  12mo. 

Southey's  Book  of  the  Church,  8vo. 

Rev.  C  W.  Le  Bas's  Lives  of  Wickliffe  and  Cran- 
mer,  3  vols.  ISmo. 

0^  The  above  have  been  republished  in  the  United 
States,  and  can  be  obtained  at  reasonable  prices. 

Add  to  these,  Carwithen's  History  of  the  Church  of 
England,  3  vols.  8vo. 

Fox's  Book  of  Martyr's,  8  vols.  8vo.,  (the  second  and 
third  vols,  particularly  valuable  ) 

Fuller's  Church  History  of  Britain. 

Le  Bas's  Life  of  Bishop  Jewel. 

Strype's  Lives,  and  Ecclesiastical  Memorials. 

Wordsworth's  Ecclesiastical  Biography. 


10* 


B^  tljc  same  %nti)ox. 


THE 


CHRISTIAN   INSTRUCTED 


IN  THE  WAYS  OF  THE 


GOSPEL  AND  THE  CHURCH, 


A  SERIES  OF  DISCOURSES 


Delivered  in  St.  James's  Church,  Goshen,  New- York,  during  the 
years  1840—1842. 


WITH 


A   COPIOUS    INTRODUCTION 


ON  THE  CHURCH,  THE  VALUE  OF  THE  LITURGY,  AND 
NOTICES  OP  THE  FEASTS  AND  FASTS. 


One  elegant  volume.     16mo.    374  pp.     $1,25. 


B^  tlje  same  ^tttl)0t. 


THE 


^oung  Cl)urrl)man'0  iHiBcdlang. 


VOLUME  I.  FOR  1846. 


Three  Hundred  and  Eighty-four  pages.     Small  8vo. 


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THE 

LIFE  AND  REMAINS 

OP  THE 

KEY.  WM.  JACKSON, 

LATE  RECTOR  OF  ST.  STEPHEN'S  CHURCH,  N.  Y. 
In  a  handsome  8vo.  volume. 


THE  CATHOLIC  DOCTRINE  OF  A  TRINITY. 


BY  THE 


REV.  WM.  JONES,  (OF  NAYLAND.) 


One  volume.     18mo. 


In   tlje   |)rjess. 


|)  It  r  i  t  a  n  i  0  tn 


NOT 


GENUINE  PROTESTANTISM. 


BEING  A  REVIEW  OF 


«  THE  PURITANS  AND  THEIR  PRINCIPLES, 
BY  EDWIN  HALL." 


BY  THK 


REV.  A.  B.   CHAPIN,  A,  M 


A  handsome  16mo. 


E^c^n  ti^   |)ttblisl)jel^. 


fttcantatton: 


OR    THE 


CONFESSIONS  OF  A  CONVERT  TO  ROMANISM : 


A  TALE  OF 


DOMESTIC  AND  RELIGIOUS  LIFE  IN  ITALY, 

EDITED  BY   THE 

REV.  WM.  INGRAHAM  KIP,  M.  A., 

AUTHOR  OF  "  THE  CHRISTMAS  HOLYDAYS  IN  ROME,"  ETC. 

One  elegant  volume.     16mo. 


l^cccntl^  JPublisl)eb. 


THE 


CI)  It  rc  I)  m  a  It '  5    fl  e  a  0  0  it  0 


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THE  DOCTRINE  OF  DEVELOPMENT. 


BY  THE 


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One  volume  12mo. 


Date  Due 

FE  20 'R'^ 

11  i  Bia^i'Witttiiif^il^  ' 

1 

' 

^ 

II    •  'lYfl  ■'  ■\ii■ai\l\'imi^^■,^' 


BW5115.S74 

History  of  the  reformation  in  England. 

Princeton  Theological  Seminary-Speer  Library 


^■.. 


■  !  V« 


— ^sr. 


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